Greece: Golden Dawn or a Wretched Nightmare

As speculation mounts as to whether Greece will leave the eurozone, the beleaguered country serves as a stark warning of how racial scapegoating can quickly surface in times of economic and political uncertainty.

Last week, two newly elected MPs from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party were among six people arrested over an attack on a Pakistani man in Athens. MPs from the Golden Dawn Party, Ilias Panagiotaros and Ioannis Vouldis were briefly held alongside the daughter of Nikos Michaloliakos, Golden Dawn's leader, but were later released.

According to police, the attack took place late on Friday when a group involved in a protest turned on a 31-year-old Pakistani bypasser. The Pakistani man needed hospital treatment after being assaulted by a group in helmets taking part in a motorbike demonstration “that started off from the headquarters of a political party,” police said in a statement. It was confirmed that this party was Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn). Golden Dawn confirmed two of its MPs had been held, but denied they took part in the attack 

[They] could not have been involved because they were miles away

This incident is the latest in a series of incidents that have raised fears that Greece's immigrants are being targeted in the run-up to this month's crucial elections. Greece's one million immigrants have become an easy target for neo-Nazi and other far-right groups, who regularly parade through Athens chanting racist slogans. Unemployment in Greece now stands at 22%, and 52% among young people, and Golden Dawn has sought to capitalise on a mood of fear across a country that is struggling to come to terms with rising crime, falling living standards and a feeling that it is on the brink of economic and political meltdown.

Golden Dawn’s violent rhetoric and calls to expel Greece's immigrants with sensationalist TV ads such as "Let's rid this country of the stench" gained them 7% of the vote in Greece's elections in May. A repeat election is scheduled to be held on 17th June, as no party was able to form a government.

At Golden Dawn’s Party Headquarter, Hitler’s infamous ‘Mein Kampf’ is sold and its leader Michaloliakos, has said there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz and has also questioned the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. Another Golden Dawn candidate, Themis Skordeli, has been accused of beating up, together with two other Greeks, three Afghan immigrants in Athens a year ago. A court case was recently postponed for the sixth time.

Meanwhile, a report by the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) called on Greece to act against what it said was a rising level of racism and related violence.

The report said:

Greece should strongly combat the increasing manifestations of racial discrimination, xenophobia and related violence.

It called on Athens to condemn publicly all intolerance and violence and send

a clear and unambiguous message that racist or discriminatory acts, including by police and other public officials, are unacceptable.

A report that 18 monitoring NGOs released in March had said that racist attacks in Greece mostly go unreported and unpunished and had published a list of 63 racist attacks in just two cities over six months.

Francine Fernandes