2000 Modern "Ethnic Cleansing" by Greece

MODERN "ETHNIC CLEANSING" AGAINST
THE MACEDONIAN MINORITY OF GREECE

October, 2000

In the last few years, Greece has initiated a policy of ethnic cleansing against members of its Macedonian minority by depriving them of their Greek citizenship. Many Macedonians who have gone abroad to work have become victims of this discriminatory policy. Authorities, specificallly in the Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs, use the Law of Citizenship to deprive Macedonians of their Greek citizenship. Article 20, Paragraph 1G, states, among other things:

"...a Greek citizen who is abroad and works or is active against the national interests of Greece may lose their Greek citizenship..."

The law is selectively applied focusing on those who openly express their Macedonian national identity through participation in Macedonian associations. This is especially true for Macedonians in the United States, Canada and Australia. Open expression of one's Macedonian identity is not tolerated in Greece where authorities refuse to acknowledge any national minorities within their borders. Furthermore, within Greece, Greek authorities have implement discriminatory and assimilatory policies aimed at stifling any public expression of non-Greek identity.

To augment this policy of "Greek only," Greek authorities, through their embassies and consulates in foreign countries, routinely inform the Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs about the activities of Macedonians who are citizens of Greece. They spy on members of this national minority to identify those who participate in Macedonian cultural activities or belong to Macedonian church congregations and associations.

The Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs works in collaboration with the Council of Citizenship to determine who shall be deprived of their Greek citizenship. Once a decision has been made it is printed in the government journal and at the same time officials from the victim's local area are informed. Upon receipt of a document from the Ministry of Internal Affairs municipal leaders from the victims local area delete the former citizen from the municipal registry.

Such a decision can be seen in the [Avramis case] | [English translation] from the village of Lofoi (Zabrdeni), who lost his citizenship in the same manner as [Misalis] | [English translation] There are similar letters for all Macedonians who have been stripped of their Greek citizenship. It should be noted that these letters are not public and are intended to be viewed only by the authorities. In other words the process of being stripped of one's Greek citizenship is a secret affair.

If the victim has relatives in the local area they may be able to ascertain the loss of citizenship. However, in many cases the victims are not aware that they have been deprived of their citizenship since the Greek authorities never inform them. In addition, the authorities do not state the reason for depriving someone of their citizenship. There is no recourse.

This discriminatory Greek policy is mentioned in the last report of the ECRI (European Commission against Racism and Intolerance) of the Council of Europe as well as in past reports by the US Dept. of State.

The same policy was, for many decades, implemented against the Turkish national minority of Greece through the infamous Article 19 of the Law of Citizenship. According to that article a Greek citizen could loose their citizenship if they stayed abroad for a long period. That law was selectively used against thousands of Turks from Western Thrace (North Eastern Greece) who were stripped of their Greek citizenship, especially young Turks who went to study at universities in Turkey.

However, since 1999, as a result of international pressure against the Greek government, this article is no longer implemented against the Turkish minority. Unfortunately, this positive change is not retroactive and does not offer any legal recourse to those victims who were unfairly stripped of their Greek citizenship prior to 1999.

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