Non-discrimination

During the session with social partners, employers suggested that Greece was compliant with the EU directives on non-discrimination in the area of employment, and referred to 2021 labour legislation explicitly prohibiting termination of a contract for reasons linked with the EU protected criteria on non-discrimination. References were also made to the work of the Ombudsman in persistently promoting the principle of equal treatment in the public and private sectors. Participants in the session 6 on non-discrimination acknowledged the existence of a number of national strategies concerning groups suffering discrimination, but they called for more systematic implementation and for funding to support activities in these areas. The Greek authorities explained that National Action Plans had indeed been adopted in the past years concerning the rights of children, sexual abuse against children, racism and intolerance, people with disabilities, gender equality and LGBTIQ rights. They indicated that relevant CSOs were represented in the preparation committees and implementation mechanisms. Participants in the session on non-discrimination strongly condemned the alleged illegal pushbacks at the Greek borders, referring to similar positions by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European Commission, and to numerous cases currently being considered by the European Court for Human Rights. Some participants pointed out that the Greek official position was that it abided by international law, whereas, in their view, these pushbacks amounted to a pattern which represented a de facto policy for national border management. Participants regretted that the authorities had only set up an independent border monitoring mechanism after much international pressure, saying that they expected much more tangible results from it. The Greek authorities explained that they looked specifically into the allegations of illegal pushbacks, adding that investigations were underway by the National Transparency Authority, the Ombudsman, and the Public Prosecutor.

Participants considered that pushbacks added to other human rights violations against migrants, including the breach of the obligation to provide individualised analysis of asylum claims. Migrants, including asylum seekers, faced illegal detention in poor conditions and widespread discrimination in a number of fields. In particular, cases were mentioned of hundreds of years of imprisonment of individual migrants for alleged shipwreck and human trafficking. Other examples of discrimination and human rights violations faced by migrants included restriction of freedom of movement on Greek territory; impeded access to health services; great difficulties in opening a bank account and access to insurance; and disproportionate targeting by the police, for example in the application of COVIDrelated restrictions. It was noted that there was significant difference in the treatment of Ukrainian war-asylum seekers and asylum seekers from other origins who had arrived in previous years. For example, the education sector sought to integrate Ukrainian asylum seekers into the local school system, and they received all the equipment needed at school. On the other hand, child asylum seekers who had arrived from other countries and were living in camps could not attend education during COVID because of the lack of digital access, the difficulty of leaving the camp (which was often left to the discretion of the camp manager), and the fact that camps were often situated in very remote areas. Life in camps in general was described as preventing integration of migrants into society: in addition to the endemic violence which prevailed there, access to health, schooling and employment was very difficult. However, during the session with social partners, employers indicated that some sectors of the Greek economy, such as the tourism and hospitality industry, had a high demand for staff, and they considered this to be an opportunity for integration through work.

A participant outlined the difficult situation of Roma women facing double discrimination – from within their own community and from wider society. Roma people had been particularly impacted by the COVID crisis and they notably suffered from certain discriminatory lockdown restrictions as well as a general suspicion that they were spreading the virus. The participant gave examples of discrimination faced by Roma individuals in their relations with the police, in accessing hospitals, or in seeking employment, bank loans or housing. Special schooling programmes were still failing to break the de facto school ghettoising of Roma pupils. The Greek authorities referred to the Roma Action Plan and to a number of programmes lead by the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Welfare to facilitate integration into the labour market and access to banking. A participant explained that, despite the fact that the Constitution provided for equality before the law, people with disabilities had to wait until 2005 to benefit from specific legislation prohibiting discrimination in the area of labour, thanks to the transposition of the EU directives on the matter. Despite this legal protection, discrimination remained high in practice, as the vast majority of people with disabilities (especially more severe disabilities) remained excluded from the labour market. Reasonable accommodation allowing people with disabilities to work under proper conditions was rare, as were complaints by people with disabilities against their employers, for fear of losing their job. A law was being drafted to propose personal assistants, but it would initially be limited to a pilot project in Athens. Some participants voiced complaints about the visible lack of solidarity and human rights-based accessibility for people with disabilities, while others emphasised there were a number of key government and municipality initiatives in the pipeline aiming to make the lives of people disabilities easier. The Greek authorities confirmed that a law was being drafted, as one of the tangible results of the National Action Plan on Persons with Disabilities, which coordinated action by several ministries and included cooperation with CSOs.

Participants considered that COVID had particularly impacted women and children, both in terms of domestic violence and in terms of the economic situation. Participants regretted that Greece consistently ranked last amongst all EU Member States in the Gender Equality Index and that there were very few shelters for women fleeing domestic violence. Child poverty was high and single parent families received little help from the state. Children of irregular migrants could get stuck in a gridlock, with great difficulty accessing citizenship, hindering their access to the labour market. There was a lack of adequate support for children with disabilities, notably in terms of accessible leisure and school personal carers. Participants also mentioned the relatively mild sentencing of perpetrators for lynching a transsexual person and the fact that the victim had been demonised.