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: office@greekhelsinki.gr
___________________________________________________________________
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
When the decision was made to organize the 50th anniversary World Reunion of Children Refugees from Aegean Macedonian, which was to include a visit to Greece, the organizers were well aware of the difficult odds against such effort. Already in 1988, during the 40th anniversary reunion, an attempt of a number of such refugees to visit their birthplaces was rebuffed by Greek authorities. Some were again refused entry, which led the whole group, out of solidarity, to return to (then Yugoslav) Macedonia. There are no reliable independent records of what happened then, but one need keep in mind that the “Macedonian problem” was not as acute as it became after the independence of the Republic of Macedonia, in late 1991.
Instead of coordinating such effort with human rights NGOs that had made it known they were willing to help, the organizers wrote directly to the Greek authorities. On 18 February 1998, the Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia sent a letter to Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis the . In it, they characterized the intended visit as a “humanitarian action” and their objectives “peaceful and humanitarian.” They stated:“we want to be able to visit our places of birth, see our relatives and friends, perhaps for the last time; we feel it a moral obligation to visit the graves of our parents and grandparents as proud sons and daughters of our native land.” Indeed a noble demand.
However, in the same letter, they raised the very issue of the Macedonian minority in Greece and its non-recognition by the Greek state. They characterized related Greek policy “cruel and inhumane” and expressed the hope that “a problem-free visit to the Republic of Greece (…) this humanitarian action will be an important first step in the improvement of the treatment of the ethnic Macedonian population in Greece.” Thus, any positive reaction by the Greek authorities would have been tantamount to recognizing both the minority and its past repression. In such a way, the visit was therefore becoming a minority rights rather than a humanitarian issue.
Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) was informed of that letter only in early June (see below for a related problem). Despite the lack of coordination and accurate information about the visit to Greece, it tried, in many discrete ways, to facilitate it on strictly humanitarian grounds. Concerned embassies in Athens were informed and asked to also help, while the Executive Director of the International Helsinki Federation - IHF (of which GHM is one of the 31 national committees in OSCE countries) Aaron Rhodes sent a letter to Alternate Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou (see below). The Minister’s answer (also below) was indeed a welcome departure from the aforementioned practices. It stated that the Greek Consulate in Skopje “had instructions to be as helpful as possible;” and that the only “holders of passports without visa requirements” who “will be denied entry into Greece” will be those with “any problem with the Schengen network.”
Unfortunately, on 19 July, border authorities belied G. Papandreou’s declarations and refused entry to some 30 people who had never encountered any problems with the Schengen network. GHM was also informed that the Greek Consulate in Skopje was not only not helpful but unusually reluctant to issue visas to Aegean Macedonians for the period between 2 July and 2 August (Ilinden, national day in Macedonia commemorating the 1903 uprising in Krusevo). Thus, some additional 40 people were unable to enter Greece. Neither GHM nor IHF have received any official explanation.
However, GHM has learnt that the speech by President Kiro Gligorov, in the opening meeting of the World Reunion on 15 July 1998 in Skopje, contributed to that reversal. His references to the existence and the rights of the Macedonian minority made the speech political: since the Macedonian government had been warned by the Greek government about how sensitive the latter was on the issue, K. Gligorov’s speech “sealed” the fate of the humanitarian efforts. “Hard-liners” in the Greek state canceled the exceptionally flexible instructions given by G. Papandreou. They were certainly helped by the inopportune public release of the IHF letter to the Macedonian media (on 14 July) by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in the Republic of Macedonia (MHC), which helped trigger hostile statements by nationalist deputies like S. Papathemelis (PASOK).
Monitoring of the border crossing, on 19 July 1998
A GHM delegation, along with delegations of the Macedonian minority party Rainbow and of the Association of Macedonians from the Aegean Part of Macedonia (Bitola), monitored the crossing of the Greek border from 9 am to 6 pm on 19 July 1998. A MHC delegation was present at the Macedonian border. Some 160 people attempted to enter Greece, with some 70 been unable to. Greek authorities refused entry to 51 individuals, while another 20, all citizens of Macedonia, upon learning that they could not enter without visas, did not even attempt to have their passports checked.
Most individuals arrived at the Niki crossing in three buses around 1:30 pm. The Greek border authorities generally behaved in a correct way towards the Macedonians, and were courteous and cooperative with the GHM delegation, a welcome departure from past practices. However, one or two policemen did not limit themselves to point to some individuals that their birthplace was written in their passport with its Slavic name. They went on adding that they also had to change their own Macedonian names into their Greek equivalent they or their families had before leaving Greece (in the 1920s all Slavic names were forcefully Hellenized). The latter is definitely offensive to the personality of these individuals and uncalled for by any internationally accepted standards.
In another case, two Australian citizens were allowed to enter while the previous evening they were forbidden. The reason offered by the border officers to GHM was that “they had perceived from their attitude that they could bring trouble, although there was no problem with their papers.” What in fact made the difference was that the first day they had copies of the nationalist weekly “Makedonsko Sonce” which they had left behind in the second day. This was also an unacceptable behavior of the border authorities.
Finally, the Greek authorities defaced all non-Macedonian passports of those who were refused entry . They marked them with the usual entry stamp on which they either added another stamp with the word “Invalid” in Greek or drew a cross on the stamp. Foreign countries had in the past protested to Greek authorities about more elaborate and obvious such defacing; it appears that this is a new, more discrete way of marking the passports of the persona non grata, which remains equally unacceptable.
GHM has the complete data of 6 people (5 Canadians and 1 Australian) who had “personal bans of entry.” Also, of another 16 (6 Canadians, 5 Australians, 1 German, 2 Czechs, 1 Hungarian, and 1 Macedonian with a valid Schengen visa) who were refused entry because of the Macedonian names of their birthplaces in their passports. There were also 3 Canadians and 5 Australians who were refused entry for either reason and whose names GHM does not have. GHM believes that the refusal to the German citizen, of a EU country of the Schengen network, raises additional questions for Greek policy, as EU citizens are supposed to be able to move freely everywhere in EU territory.
On the other hand, the following weekend, 24-26 July 1998, the Macedonian authorities allowed Greek citizens to enter the country without visas to participate at the festivities organized in Trnovo (near Bitola) by the Association of Macedonians from the Aegean Part of Macedonia (Bitola).
GHM reiterates its firm belief that Greece’s attitude on the matter is inexcusable. If the country is as strong a democracy as it pretends, she has nothing to fear from the visit of such individuals. Even if some of them were to voice political views unpleasant to the authorities, they have no power to stir up any passions, as some “hard-liners” claim. On the contrary, closing the border to them contributes in making them more intransigent and even nationalist, while their visits here can help them grasp the reality which is often very different of what is presented to them abroad. Greek communists have similar experiences from the period of the 1950s through mid-1970s when they were also banned from entering Greece. Finally, the attitude of those who visited Greece, as well as that of tens of others who come every year without ever anyone having raised any complaint about it, shows that hardly anyone harbors any intentions to stir up passions. As G. Papandreou stated in his letter to the IHF: Greece wants “to ensure that national reconciliation be achieved and that the painful moments of the civil war be taken out of the political agenda.” She must therefore use the opportunity of the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the end of the civil war to achieve a true “national reconciliation” that will include ethnic Macedonians. The legal way is simple: an amendment to the 1982 law, removing the racist prerequisite of ethnic Greekness for the return of the political refugees.
The attitude of the Greek media
The events around the visit of the Macedonian children-refugees and the seminar organized by Rainbow were one more opportunity to see how Greek media, with rare exceptions, do not give a journalistic coverage of matters pertaining to the Macedonian minority. Instead, they engage in distortions if not outright “hate speech” to help reproduce if not strengthen the negative stereotypes of the large majority of (misinformed) Greek public opinion for Macedonians. The purpose of this “yellow journalism” is to avoid giving objective information on the matter that may make many Greeks more attentive to the demands of the minority and perhaps more inclined to agree with at least some of them. The following is an analysis of the major Athens press between 16 and 20 July 1998 (with one important addition from 28 July 1998).
[Newspaper initials: A = Apovegmatini, El = Eleftherotypia, ET = Eleftheros Typos, Eth = Ethnos, Ex = Exousia, P = Pontiki, V = Vradyni].
The media, a few days before the events, engaged into scaremongering that was never based even on one statement or document of the organizers. The unnamed source was always some state agency feeding the alarming information, as one journalist told GHM. The theme for the Greek paper had to be the expectation of a “mass invasion” of people with “irredentist claims” or planning to come in Greece to repeat such claims. Moreover, there were supposed to be alarming reports about an alleged negative reaction of “enraged citizens” in Western Macedonia.
“A mass ‘invasion’ of Slavomacedonians is planned for Sunday”; “the main aim of these manifestations is irredentism”;‘the mobilization of Slavomacedonian activists from Florina and Pella (…) is almost an open provocation as it is carried out along the lines of an irredentist rationale favoring the one and ‘Great Macedonia’” [P/16]
“Skopjans dreaming of the annexation of Greek territories are preparing festivities in Central and Western Macedonia this weekend.” [ET/18]
“The Florina [Rainbow] seminar has caused the reaction of other associations and citizens of the area, while the police forces are on the alert to prevent any incident” [El/18 with title “Rainbow’s manifestations in Florina are met with reactions” unsigned]
“Tension is expected today in Florina and Edesa (…) Greek authorities have nor granted permission, while many local organizations have reacted negatively” [El/19].
“Skopjan fiesta on Greek territory” [front page main title]
“Skopjan fiesta of hatred in pour Macedonia” [inside title]
“A large number of Skopjans will celebrate the Ilinden uprising and will proclaim the wish to return to their fatherland”; “the irredentist claims of the neighboring state are officially transferred in Northern Greece”; “authorized sources told us that during the day the situation in Northern Greece may become explosive especially if the various manifestations of the Skopjanophile elements coordinate themselves towards creating provocations at the expense of the indigenous population.” “in Edesa’s waterfalls there is a preparation of a counter-demonstration of the indigenous Greek population” [ET/19]
Where there was disagreement in these fabricated “news” stories, it concerned the alleged attitude of the Greek authorities. Right-wing and nationalist ET saw the government being too … soft while Diamantis of El. Usually close to the Greek Embassy in Skopje misinformed his readers that the visit was banned.
“In a recent meeting of the state agencies concerned, under the chairmanship of the political leadership of the foreign ministry, it was decided not to put any obstacles to the festivities as the country runs the risked to be exposed … internationally!” [ET/19]
“They have organized a visit of the ‘Children’ to their birthplaces (…) where they will try to go tomorrow Sunday, even though there has been no permission form the Greek side” [Takis Diamantis, title ‘Inflammatory Gligorov’ El/18]
In the latter case, it is noteworthy that Diamantis was reporting Gligorov’s opening speech to the Children Refugees meeting (he considered it inflammatory), delivered on 15 July and naturally covered by Macedonian TV the same day. Diamantis did not cover it the next day or even the day after, but only three days later, after -and perhaps because- the hard-liners of the Greek foreign ministry had decided to use it as an excuse to confound George Papandreou’s more flexible instructions. The journalist’s criteria were giving the impression they were dominated by an effort to serve Greek foreign policy, and in fact the more nationalist elements in it, rather than to cover the news!
The hostile climate was strengthened by one PASOK and on ND deputies who issued inflammatory statements full of hate speech and, of course, of distortions. Once again, GHM reiterates that this shows why Greece lacks an extreme right party: because many deputies in all political parties share extreme right, chauvinist, xenophobic if not racist views..
“ND deputy Eugene Haitidis in a parliamentary question to the ministers of interior, foreign affairs and public order warned them for the plan of 10,000 Bulgarian-leaning extremists [sic] to descend and organize on Greek territory provocative manifestations and proclaim their determination to free Macedonia from the Greek conquerors” [ET/19]
Mr. Papathemelis “Next weekend hundreds of Skopjans will visit us. In the last few days they had meetings in Skopje on how they will bring about the so-called Great Macedonia with borders reaching as far south as Larisa. (…) The conclusion of an activist anti-Hellenic gathering with the declared aim of the amputation of Greece’s integrity is the culmination of the anti-Hellenic recent hysteria of the neighbors. It is a provocation of the worst kind.” [El/18]
After the events took place as presented above, and without any incident on either side, the media played down the matter. It is characteristic that the only two newspapers which had objective coverage were the two (Eleftherotypia and Exousia) which sent correspondents to Florina. To their credit, they even implicitly criticized the alarming state agency reports of the previous days. In one of them, a conciliatory statement by one visitor on the motives of the visit was clearly a far cry from the scaremongering expectations of the previous days. The other newspapers, based on second hand information -probably the same sate agency as many inaccuracies were repeated-, once again misinformed: some argued that hundreds of Macedonians were not allowed entry and/or that some 300 were allowed in. While one wrote that all those with Macedonian toponyms in their passports or personal bans were allowed in followed the intervention of the IHF minors!!
“Skopjan fiasco in Edesa” [front page title]; “the militant articles of our newspaper as well as the timely warning by New Democracy (…) led the customs authorities yesterday in the border crossings of Niki and Evzonoi to block the entrance of hundreds of Skopjans who tried to cross the border in the last 48 hours.” (…) “by yesterday afternoon only 300 Skopjans had crossed” [ET/20].
“300 participants” their aim was “to persuade the Greek government to respect the human rights of Macedonians” [Eth/20] [Ap/20]
“In the Florina customs office customs officers noticed that the Skopjans who had come for a visit to their relatives lacked Greek visa, while for many there was a ban of entry. They were though accompanied by observers of the IHF and for that reason they were allowed in” [V/20].
“The ‘Skopjan invasion’ was belied” [title] “Those who rushed to call the visit ‘Skopjan invasion’ were belied. (…) the organizers of the visit avoided any action that could have been called provocative as, according to them, ‘the visit was aimed at acquainting people with heir birthplace.” [Ex/20]
“George Papandreou was exposed”; “In Meliti Florina the disorderly situation many including the authorities expected did not materialized” [El/20]
We will conclude the review of the press with a correspondence of Takis Diamantis in El/28. For the umpteenth time, Diamantis stressed what for him and for the Greek Embassy in Skopje is negative information. Covering, obviously merely from the Macedonian media or the Embassy’s review of the latter, the Trnovo festivities of Aegean Macedonians, he quoted from the resolution read there by Alexander Popovski. However, he only quoted the appeal to the international community to put pressure on Greece so as the latter recognizes the “Macedonian minority.” Hence, El’s story had the title “Once again they see a ‘Macedonian minority.’” Diamantis opted not to mention another very important excerpt from Popovski’s speech which confuted all claims that people like him make irredentist calls for the annexation of other territories to today’s Macedonia. Popovksi clearly stated the aims of his association and called all Macedonians in the border countries to be loyal citizens. Here is the related MILS story:
“On 26 July 1998, in Trnovo near Bitola, an all-Macedonian border meeting of the citizens of Macedonia and Greece took place, organized by the Association of Macedonians from the Aegean part of Macedonia, seated in Bitola. The President of the Association Aleksandar Popovski addressed the crowds as well. He reminded that the basic rights and freedoms of Macedonians are usurped in Greece. The Republic of Greece, even though a member of the Convention for protection of national minorities, discriminates Macedonians in this country, and does not enact the convention, and this is the only struggle of the Association, stressed Popovski. He sent a message to the Macedonians in Greece, Bulgaria and Albania to respect all laws of those countries and to be their loyal citizens, assessing that Europe must push these countries into respecting the rights and human freedoms of the Macedonian minority that lives there.”
The attitude of human rights NGOs
GHM and MRG-G were the only Greek human rights NGOs that dealt with this problem. Even when the matter became public, NGOs that rarely stay silent on other human rights problems did not even issue a statement. As many times in the past, Greek NGOs shied away from “delicate” minority issues like that of the Macedonians. It is ironic that, in the end, Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou showed more interest and tried, however unsuccessfully, to help more than human rights groups that have once again confirmed that their struggle in Greece has its “limits.”
Besides, in the statement MHC issued after the events there were some unfortunate exaggerated points. First, it was alleged that, in the Greek border (the crossing of which MHC had not monitored) “the former children-refugees, because of the strict selection by the Greek authorities, were blocked for almost five hours;” however, each bus stayed only for about 1h30 in the border. It is also inaccurate that all “have been expelled from their native places in Greece even without the right to visit them, except in case if they declare in written form that they are Greek by origin.” How about the scores of them who were allowed in for a visit without having to declare they are Greek by origin? Finally, there is no evidence that in “the Republic of Greece the list of the undesirable Macedonians is continuously being expanded.” Such inaccuracies are weakening NGO statements and the overall struggle for the rights of the Macedonian minority and the Macedonian political refugees. Similar weaknesses existed also in the statement of the Canadian-based ethnic Macedonian organizations (see below).
On the difficulty of asserting a Macedonian identity or even using the “M” word in today’s Greece
These events have happened in a background rather unfavorable for those belonging to or defending the rights of the Macedonian minority; even their name or the name of the Macedonian country and people, the famous unpronounceable “M” words, can hardly be said or even worse written. We will give a number of recent illustrations.
First, a few months ago, GHM was told by a number of Greek publishers that they could not publish in Greek two important books whose translation cost was covered. The books are Unfinished Peace (the new Aspen-Carnegie report on the Balkans) and Salonica Terminus (by Canadian author Fred Reed). The main if not sole reason was the use of “M” word and the references to the minority problems in Greece. Similar problems have been encountered in the past. For example, the Greek edition of the seminal E. J. Hobsbawm Nations and Nationalism Since 1780 (Athens: Kardamitsas, 1994) has references to “Macedonians” and to Slavomacedonians rather than Macedonians. It is now known whether the author has ever become aware of that “adaptation.”
In the 19 July 1998 Greek edition of Le Monde Diplomatique published by Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia, there was an article on Kosovo and former Yugoslavia. The Greek publisher felt obliged to explain with a footnote the use of the word Macedonian by the French authoras follows: “note of the Greek edition: the author of the article uses here the usual terminology for the ‘Slavomacedonians’ which is included in the constitution and all official documents, statistics etc. of Yugoslavia from the 1950s till this day [sic].”
Worst, in June 1998, the Greek section of Amnesty International distributed to the Greek media the Greek translation of the Annual Report's section on Greece. A careful comparison between the English original and the translation showed that Amnesty International Greece had “adapted” the text to avoid using the “M” word, Macedonian. The “ethnic Macedonian minority” became “Slavomacedonian minority” while the “Macedonian” language was demoted to the status of “Slavomacedonian dialect.” GMH has been informed that Amnesty International's International Secretariat considers that, in making this change from the authorized wording of the English version, the Greek Section was in error.
On 9 June 1998, GHM went to the Kifisia post office to collect a registered letter that was sent to it by the Canadian “Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia.” The title on the envelope’s letterhead was both in English and in Macedonian. The letter was nowhere to be found and the post office supervisor and employee instead of being apologetic for the delay behaved very rudely to the two GHM persons. It took two days for the post office to locate the registered letter, which confirmed GHM’s initial suspicion that it was not misplaced but sent somewhere probably for some content control.
Rainbow reported, moreover, that the announcement of the seminar they organized on 19 July 1998 was not published in the local media, including the state radio (while one Athens newspaper, Avghi, published it).
To conclude, we will quote some excerpts from the study of anthropologist and instructor at Panteios University of Political Science Maria Yannisopoulou on the Almopia (Pella) area in Western Greek Macedonia. This EU-financed research carried out by the Greek state’s National Center for Social Research (EKKE) shows the climate of fear and oppression in which live today the people with even a simple ethnolinguistic Macedonian identity (EKKE Macedonia and the Balkans: Xenophobia and Development Alexandreia: May 1998; pp. 360-364):
“Part of the self-ascription of the group of the indigenous population [dopioi] but also of the reactions against it are the relations they have with individuals, relatives or not, beyond the Greek border. Those ‘inside’ as they call it ‘are ours.’ How could they say it in public, though? They run the risk to be called ‘anti-Greek’ or ‘Skopjans’, especially now, ‘that the political situation is tense.’” (…) ‘Generally, children under 15 refuse to speak the indigenous tongue [dopika] in public, but neither in private, at home, do they want to use it. They have linked their language with special discrimination based on their origins. At school, even today teachers censor pupils, as they are betrayed by their accent. The latter cannot be hidden. This is the reason that at school children are pressured not to use the language at home. [The argument is] It creates problems in learning Greek. Some teachers ask the Ministry of Education to deal with this issue.”
IHF Letter To Greek Alternate Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister George Papandreou
Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs
in care of the Greek Embassy in Vienna
Argentinierstraίe 14
1040 Vienna
Vienna, 7.7.1998
Dear Mr. Papandreou,
I had the honor to meet you, along with my Greek and Macedonian colleagues, during a mission in Greece several years ago. We were impressed at that time with your open and constructive approach to the issues we brought, and e.g. your commitment to the education and welfare of all the children in Greece, including those of Albanians.
I would therefore take this opportunity to raise an issue of importance: The IHF would like to appeal to you to help handle a humanitarian issue. We have been informed that some 1,000 people who were born in Greece over 50 years ago, who subsequently left it in the difficult moments of its civil war 50 years ago, and who now live in many other countries, would like to visit their birthplaces, in the districts of Pella, Florina and Kastoria, on 19 July. They plan to enter the country in the morning and leave in the evening from the Niki and perhaps the Evzoni border crossings. This is organized in the context of a 50th anniversary reunion which includes also some activities in Skopje and Bitola.
We understand that for many this will be the first time they will visit their birthplaces. We have also been informed that some have in the recent past been forbidden to enter Greece. Regardless of the reasons for such bans, given the special occasion of this month's reunion, we appeal to you that Greece grants to all these people the right for that short visit. Our organization is in fact ready to even assist the administration of this rather massive by usual standards entry in whatever way your government may feel it necessary, as some of its leading members will be present at the border.
We would be deeply grateful for your consideration and assistance in this matter.
Yours sincerely
Aaron Rhodes
Executive Director
cc Panayote Dimitras
Meto Jovanowski
Answer of Greek Alternate Foreign Minister to IHF
HELLENIC REPUBLIC
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
THE ALTERNATE MINISTER
Athens, 14th July 1998
Ref. No : F. 80/3/AS 511
To
Mr. A. Rhodes
International Helsinki Federation
for Human Rights
Dear Mr. Rhodes,
I would like to thank you for your letter of 7 July in which you brought up the, painful indeed, issue of the thousands of children who forcefully left Greece 50 years ago in one of the darkest moments of the Greek civil war.
Greece is at peace with itself, as well as with its neighbours. Greece is an open country, definitely oriented towards the future, but with a keen sense of its past. Successive Greek governments have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that national reconciliation be achieved and that the painful moments of the civil war be taken out of the political agenda.
Several people have expressed the wish to visit their birthplace : they intend to do it now and associate it with the 50th anniversary of their fleeing the country. Some are voicing fears that the Greek authorities will block them on arrival on Greek territory. May I assure you that no specific measures have been taken in this respect: visas, where appropriate, are being granted as necessary, while holders of passports without visas requirements are simply screened upon arrival. Obviously, all this is done in full application of the Schengen procedures: it is therefore clear that if any individual has any problem with the Schengen network, he will be denied entry into Greece.
Sincerely,
George A. Papandreou
[the text below is handwritten]
PS I have personally been in contact
with our Ambassador in Skopje and
he has instructions to be as helpful as possible.
Glad to hear from you!
GAP
Statement By Ethnic Macedonian NGOs
Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada
Border Crossing into Greece –
Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia
Press Release – July 20, 1998
The Second World Reunion of the Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia began on July 15, 1998 in the Republic of Macedonia and was scheduled to end with an historic trip to Edessa (Voden) Greece on July 19, 1998.
The former child refugees, evacuated from Greece during the Civil War of 1946-49, have consistently been denied entry into Greece simply because they assert their Macedonian ethnic identity. Former child refugees who assert a Greek identity have been allowed to return to Greece.
Several hundred Macedonians, under the supervision of a number of human rights organizations including the Greek Helsinki Monitor, the Macedonian Helsinki Committee and the Rainbow Party, attempted to cross the border from the Republic of Macedonia into Florina (Lerin) Greece on the morning of July 19, 1998. After being held up unnecessarily for several hours at the border and having their personal belongings examined, most of these people were allowed entry. The Greek government seemed intent on delaying the celebrations planned in Edessa (Voden) as
the expression of Macedonian culture is not tolerated in Greece.
However, approximately 30 people, including the executive of the Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia (from Canada) were denied entry and given no reason by the Greek government. These people do not have criminal records and as Canadian citizens do not require visas to visit Greece. The Greek government turned them back only because of their involvement in Macedonian organizations overseas and because they assert a Macedonian ethnic identity.
The MHRMC and ARCAM call on the international community to condemn Greece’s actions and to apply pressure on the Greek government to comply with all human rights conventions to which it is a signatory and allow these ethnic Macedonians to freely cross the border into Greece.
Bill Nicholov
Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada
P.O. Box 44532
2376 Eglinton Avenue East
Toronto, Canada M1K 5K3
Tel. 416-202-8866
Fax 416-412-3385
nicholov@sympatico.ca
mail@mhrmc.on.ca
http://www.mhrmc.on.ca
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia
Statement for the public opinion
(No date. Received by e-mail on Thu, 23 Jul 1998 12:15:41 +0100)
DISCRIMINATION AT MACEDONIA-GREECE BORDER
The international organization Macedonian Children-Refugees from the Civil War in Greece was making notification of the 50 years of their expulsion from their places of birth in Aegean Macedonia, Greece, during the period of 15-19 July 1998 with a commemoration. For that occasion, as planned in the program, an organized group of participants with three buses and several cars decided to visit their places of birth in Greece. However, at the border crossing Medzitlija-Niki, between Bitola and Lerin (Florina), the former children-refugees, because of the strict selection by the Greek authorities, were blocked for almost five hours whereby 30 persons were denied entrance in Greece, out of whom 14 were holders of Canadian passport, 11 holders of Australian passport, 2 holders of Czech passport, 1 holder of Ukrainian passport, 1 holder of Polish passport and 1 holder of Romanian passport. The number of persons who wanted to visit their places of birth would have been ever much higher if the Liaison Office of the Republic of Greece in Skopje did not apply a strict selection visa regime for those born in Greece. Individuals have complained to the Macedonian Helsinki Committee that the Liaison Office of the Republic of Greece in Skopje even would not issue at all visas to those born in Greece until 3 August 1998, meaning until Ilinden (St. Elias' Day), the Macedonian national holiday that is also celebrated by Macedonians in Greece. The persons with foreign passports were denied entrance in Greece mainly because of two reasons: if the place of birth in the passport is written with the Macedonian toponym, not with the Greek one, and if the person has been registered by the competent Greek services as a well-known activist of the Organization of children-refugees. The Greek border authorities mark the passports of these persons with a special seal that is different from the regular one in that it has two crossed lines or with another seal with the Greek word: AGURO. The international Organization of children-refugees from the Civil War in Greece consists of 30 000 persons who as children were displaced throughout the former communist countries: from Skopje to Tashkent, and from Budapest to Warsaw. Few of them stayed to live in the former communist countries. The most of them have returned to the Republic of
Macedonia and now are its citizens, or have fled and settled in Australia, Canada, USA and the countries of Europe and where they are now more than 50 years old, but their families are also members and activists of this Organization. They are linked by the fact that they have been expelled from their native places in Greece even without the right to visit them, except in case if they declare in written form that they are Greek by origin, by the fact they have been deprived of the right to use and regulate their property and by the fact that their national identity and mother tongue are Macedonian. As it is generally known, Greece does not recognize at all the existence of a Macedonian national minority. Their active manifestation of the Macedonian national identity in the countries where they now live is considered by the Greek authorities as an enemy activity directed toward the vital interests of the Republic of Greece whereby the list of the undesirable Macedonians is continuously being expanded.
