Monitoring groups denounce racist attacks in Greece

Racist attacks in Greece go mostly unreported and unpunished, monitoring groups said today as they released a list of 63 cases in just two cities over six months.

According to monitoring done by 18 non-governmental organisations, of the 63 people attacked in Athens and Patras since October, only one, an Ethiopian-born Greek, filed charges with the police.

In other cases -- including those of 27 illegal immigrants, 23 asylum-seekers, and seven legal migrants -- no charges were pressed because the victims either feared or did not trust the authorities, according to Kalliopi Stefanakis from the Greek bureau of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

In 18 of the reported cases, police were said to be behind the attacks, according to the NGOs.

Such cases are "just the tip of the iceberg," Costis Papaioannou, the head of the national human rights' commission, told a press conference held on anti-racism day.

Greece, which is currently in the throes of a major economic crisis, is a major hub for illegal immigration to Europe from Turkey and the Middle East.