Demostration report
Image scaled down
Everyone who was part of this will say that this feeling cannot be described with words. This day was a day that neither Patras, nor the rest of Greece has lived before.
We headed to the migrants' settlement with the hope that a few of them would find the courage to follow us to the demonstration.
Meanwhile, all sorts of cops (in patrol cars, on motorbikes, on jeeps, in plain clothes) encircled us, perhaps in some vain hope that they would swirl our heads or intimidate us.
At the same time, a remarkable assembly was taking place within the camp: Five hundred (500!) people sitting in a circle, carefully listening to what everyone had to say...
The speeches were short. But you could see, everyone could see that something was happening in the camp. Everybody was talking with each other... Migrants were explaining to one another what would happen today in Patras... And everyone seemed to be excited!
100 became 200...200 became... 500... and finally, before long the whole settlement (counting more than 1,000 migrants) was for the first time ready to walk out, on the streets of Patras and to protest for what it needs:
WE NEED HELP!WE NEED HELP!
We asked about the slogan that they would all passionately repeat, what did it mean? "We need help", they told us. 1,000 refugees finally crying out loud what they've been needing for a very long time...
The demo was reaching Patras. People were coming out of their houses, their offices, their stores to see what was going on. Nobody could believe what was happening. Neither could we.
According to the mass media, which were of course present, there were only a few refugees left in Patras after the recent raids, most of which were women and children. Everyone else, they claimed, had abandoned the city a week ago. Of course, anyone paying a single visit to the settlement would realize that this statement was completely untrue.
The mass media, which this whole period,where trying to cultivate fear and racism in Patras, were now there to interview refugees and ask them how they feel and what they need...
The demo arrived in central Patras to meet other blocks and continue together through the city. Suddenly, a single slogan vibrates around the whole city
Asylum, asylum!
Τhese people are not, of course, what some locals call them, a "peculiar breed". These people ask for something simple: A land where they can live happily with their families. A land that no one is willing to give them...
Different crowds came together, blending into one great mass. Locals or refugees, it no longer mattered. For a moment, such distinctions existed no more.
It is true that many people were not comfortable with the idea of the migrants protesting in the city. Communication was difficult and the situation could have easily become uncontrollable. But today we all learned a lesson from them. We learned what dignity truly means. We learned what it means, to be in a country treating you like an inferior creature and you to show that you are superior from them. Today Patras could have turned into a battlefield. But nothing happened. Simply because the migrants, like us, they know who their enemy is.
Their enemy is the border between the states...
Their enemy is the repression by the government...
Their enemy is the interest of those in power...
Estimated numbers of participants vary, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that right now, six hours later, you walk in the streets of Patras and you can still hear the same screams:
ASYLUM!
WE NEED HELP!
|
![[Patras independent media centre]](local/images/imclogo2ryr3jp.gif)
