GREEK IMMIGRATION BILL VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS

(New York, February 5, 2001)The draft immigration bill under
consideration by the Greek parliament violates migrants' rights and
threatens refugee protection, Human Rights Watch said today.  In a
letter to parliamentarians, Human Rights Watch urged the Greek
parliament to make numerous changes to the bill in order to bring it
into line with Greece's international and regional obligations.

"All migrants have rights," said Holly Cartner, Executive Director of
Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. "But this deeply
flawed bill would permit the government to exploit migrant labor and
abuse those rights with impunity."

The eight-page letter criticizes the bill for, among other things, the
absence of an anti-discrimination clause; violating the right to family
reunification; failing to address trafficking of migrants and special
protections for women migrants trafficked for forced prostitution;
failing to acknowledge the fundamental human rights of undocumented
migrants; denying undocumented migrant children access to education and
health care; lacking a provision prohibiting the arbitrary detention of
migrants awaiting deportation who cannot return to their home countries;
failing to include a provision against collective expulsion; including
public and private sector sanctions against those assisting migrants;
and supporting sanctions on carriers for transporting migrants.

Human Rights Watch also charged that migrant women who work as domestic
helpers in Greece often suffer serious violations (including physical
abuse and nonpayment of wages)  at the hands of their employers. The
group urged parliament to grant work permits to migrants in a particular
labor sector and not to tie permits to a specific employer.

Human Rights Watch called on the Greek government to halt discriminatory
police "sweeps" of migrant communities and to observe migrant detainees'
procedural rights.

The English translation of the letter sent to Greek parliamentarians can
be found on the Human Rights Watch website at:
http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/02/Greece0202.htm.
Copies of the letter in Greek are available by contacting Rachel Bien at
bienr@hrw.org or 212-216-1845.

For further information, please contact:
In New York,
Julia Hall:+716-803-1127
or mailto:hallj@hrw.org