Roma forbidden access to the rubbish dump in Aspropyrgos, Greece

15 May 1998

The Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) reported on January 18 that the Roma in the settlement at Aspropyrgos, a town on the northwestern outskirts of Athens, have been forbidden access to the rubbish dump there. This has had serious implications for the Roma in the settlement, as they rely on collecting recyclable items at the dump for their livelihood. According to the GHM, the Roma from the most central of the three settlements in Aspropyrgos have moved to alternative sites in the province seeking other employment, such as fruit picking. Several of the Roma have gone to areas of the province in which they had relatives living and there are therefore two new settlements in Aspropyrgos, each com-prising approximately twenty families. The GHM asserts that these settlements have neither electricity nor running water, and hygiene is therefore practically non-existent. The organisation now aims to register the Roma living in both settlements and carry out vaccinations there.

(Greek Helsinki Monitor)