The Gypsies live in a settlement in the outskirts of Thessaloniki, which belongs to the town of Evosmos, but is outside of the inhabited area. The 3500 Gypsies have been there for the last thirty years in conditions of a temporary settlement. Their huts consist mainly of pieces of wood wrapped with nylon. The Gypsy settlement of Evosmos has no electricity and water supplies of its own and the Gypsy residents have been forced to beg for water from the houses in Evosmos or from construction works, until July of this year. Photographs of the Evosmos camp clearly show the terrible conditions in which the residents live.

Since 1995, the local council has allowed private refuse dumping in and around the Gypsy settlement. Rats and diseases are common, making it difficult to properly store food safely. During the night children run the risk of losing an ear, finger or nose in their sleep to large rats. A year ago, the mayor of Evosmos gave the Gypsies garbage bins, but he did not provide garbage trucks to empty them.

Last July, local landowners managed to get a court decision for the evacuation of the Gypsy settlement, but due to the campaign of several anti-racist organisations, the YRE among them, police were prevented from evacuating the Gypsy camp. The campaign also forced the local council to open public water supplies to the camp. The local government then promised to provide an area on the grounds of the Gonou army camp for temporary, pre-fabricated housing for a period of two years. Nothing has been discussed about a long-term solution, or why these houses cannot be made permanent.

In a similar case in the neighbouring town of Menemeni, the Gypsies were moved to an industrial area with the promise of a similar housing scheme, but found themselves in a barbed-wire secluded ghetto in barracks with no electricity, running water, sewage, or the right to build anything. Children have constant headaches from gases released by the surrounding factories.

The implementation of a court decision to relocate the Evosmos Gypsies has been indefinitely postponed, and the local authorities threaten to implement the court decision by forcibly throwing the Gypsies out of their settlement.. All local authorities present themselves as supporters of the rights of the Gypsies, but only as long as this does not mean accommodating them in their own area. The Gypsies themselves only ask for an area they can consider permanently theirs, nothing more, so that they can start building proper houses. Of course, this by itself is utopian, since most of them do not have permanent jobs, but demonstrates their desire for basic rights. The Gypsies are blamed for robberies and other common crimes in the area by a reactionary layer of the local population.

The Greek YRE has launched a campaign with the following demands:

• Water supply to the camp provided by the Evosmos council, with tabs or daily delivery of water-tanks;
• Collection of all the garbage that has accumulated in the area of the camp, by the Evosmos local authorities;
• Immediate public health measures in the area, by the Thessaloniki prefecture;
• Distribution of garbage bins in the settlement and daily collection by council garbage trucks;
• Preparation of the Gonou area with full infrastructure, including water, sewage, electricity, communications, roads, and schools, and proper housing for permanent settlement of the Gypsies;
• National planning with state funds for the support of the cultural, economic and social life of all Gypsies in Greece.

Our plans include leaflet distributions, appeals to trade unions, picket-lines, photography exhibitions, Gypsy music events, press conferences, and collecting signatures for a petition to be sent to the local council. The YRE is producing a protest card that can be mailed to the local mayor.

We are asking everyone to:
 

• Send letters or resolutions of protest to:

Mayor Pan. Alexandrides
P. Mela 24
TK 562 24
Evosmos GREECE

• Send letters of resolutions of support (preferably in Romani) to:

Thessaloniki Association of Gypsies "MAKEDONIA"
28th Octobriou 52
TK 561 23
Thessaloniki GREECE
Fax. 003 031 601518

• Please send copies of letters and faxes to:

Theodoros Frankos - YRE
Post Restante Central Post Office
TK 54001
Thessaloniki GREECE
Fax. 003 031 949 479

• Send us material that could help us in our work (ideas, a history of the Gypsies in Europe, similar campaigns you may have conducted, etc.)

• Place your order for our cards, petitions and leaflets, so that you can distribute them in your area. In such a case, we may ask your cooperation to translate some of these to your language or Romani. However, you can distribute protest cards (which will cost an estimated US $1 each*) to be sent to the mayor, with no need for translation.

All of this material is currently under production. * The US $ 1 price for the cards covers printing charges and is the only source of funds for YRE expenses and activities!