Reply-To: [email protected] Sender: [email protected] From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1998 19:21:25 +0300 (EET DST) Message-Id: <[email protected]> Subject: On the Macedonian Minority in Greece
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Greek Helsinki Monitor <[email protected]>
On the Macedonian Minority in Greece
GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR & MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE
P.O. Box 51393, GR-14510 Kifisia, Greece
Tel. 30-1-620.01.20; Fax: 30-1-807.57.67
E-mail: [email protected]
__________________________________________________________
PRESS RELEASE
29/7/1998
TOPIC: ISSUES RELATED TO THE MACEDONIAN MINORITY IN GREECE. THE VISIT
OF MACEDONIAN "CHILDREN REFUGEES."
MONITORING GOVERNMENT, MEDIA AND NGO ATTITUDES.
The cooperating organizations Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and
Minority Rights Group - Greece (MRG-G) followed closely the
organization of the 50th anniversary reunion visit of Macedonian
"children refugees" in their Greek birthplaces that culminated on 19
July 1998. They report here the results of the monitoring as well as
some related matters concerning the Macedonian minority in Greece.
Background
In 1948, in the midst of the Greek civil war, some 30,000 children
were sent to the communist countries by the communist Democratic Army:
according to the latter, the reason was to save these children from
possible atrocities of the nationalist (official government) forces
against them. In the early 1950s, some 9,000 such children were
repatriated. Most of those "children refugees" were reportedly ethnic
Macedonian. In 1949, after the end of the civil war, many soldiers of
the Democratic Army also fled to the communist countries to avoid
reprisals and prosecution in Greece.
In 1982, all such political refugees who had remained abroad and had
been deprived of their citizenship were allowed to return to Greece,
provided they were, or declared to be, ethnic Greeks. So, the well
publicized since "national reconciliation" in reality concerned only
the majority of the refugees, but excluded those coming from the
Macedonian minority. These Macedonians born in Greece (and calling
themselves Aegean Macedonians) are today citizens of Macedonia,
Canada, Australia, and, to a lesser extent, many other countries. Some
have been able to visit their birthplaces from time to time. Others
were not allowed to.
A large category of such refusals concerns people who have on their
passports their birthplaces written with their Macedonian names, in
use during the Ottoman administration and in the first years of the
Greek administration, rather than with the official Greek names in use
at least since the 1930s. In most cases, Greek authorities state that
if the right name is mentioned, people may come to Greece. It should
be noted that similar cases exist with the ethnic Turks, former Greek
citizens from Western Thrace, now holders of Turkish or other
passports. If their birthplaces are mentioned with their Turkish
names, they are not allowed entry. Most have for that reason changed
their passports accordingly, and the Turkish state authorities have
never raised any complaint over that problem. Indeed, although one may
consider the Greek attitude too formal, it is generally accepted
internationally that all states should respect the official names of
places in each country. Nevertheless, one need to state that Greece
gives confusing signals on the matter, as there have been many foreign
nationals who have entered the country though they had the "wrong
names" on their passports. Usually the reason was that not every
border official knows all Macedonian or Turkish toponyms so as to
detect them in foreign passports. Only in the border crossings of Niki
(with Macedonia) and Evros (with Turkey) such officials are well
versed in these matters. So, many such former citizens of Greece may
get the wrong impression of the reasons which led to the refusal they
received.
Another category of refusals concerns people with "personal bans of
entry" in their names. No explanation is given for the reasons of
these bans but it has been reported and never denied that they are
issued on the basis of the ("anti-Hellenic") activism of these people
abroad. Greek diplomats have indeed told colleagues from other
countries concerned with these bans, that the individuals should first
"behave" and then check with the Greek Consulate whether they have
been removed from the "black list." Every country has indeed the right
to refuse entry in her territory to non-nationals (or to non-EU
nationals for the EU countries). Nevertheless, countries with strong
democratic traditions usually give explanations for such refusals and
many have appeals procedures against them. In Greece, though, there is
no transparency as to how one is "blacklisted" and/or how s/he can get
off the list.
Inappropriate efforts to ask Greece for a "humanitarian" treatment of
the anniversary visit
...................
(Sorry for interrupting here... The document is very interesting but
really too lengthy to post it in full. The entire text - 42 Kb in
plain text - can be found at the Greek Helsinki Monitor web site at
http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/english/pressrelease/29-7-98(1).html, or
requested from the author, or received from the MINELRES moderator by
request.
Boris)
--
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