Afghanistan and Kurdistan are two areas that for many years are tormented by wars, from local civil wars to international military interventions of powerful states in the name of “great ideals”. Actual, in some of these interventions Greece participates actively. They are two areas where violation of human rights consists a mass daily practice. It looks like obvious, so, that societies which consider they have established at least a certain level of democratic function, and for governments that launch verbal fireworks against extreme right and xenophobia, people that in these places have fought for the fundamental rights to enjoy the right of political asylum in Greece. People that have left haunted by the local regimes in order to escape from prison, torture, and execution.

Unfortunately this is not what happens. For many years Greece is well-set in the bottom of the countries of the European Union regarding the grant of political asylum, as the percentage of people that are recognised as political refugees compared to the total of those who apply is always a one digit number. Now E.U.’s policy, as it is materialised in Greece, wants to build a “fortress Europe” aiming in closing out of its walls refugees that face threats for their lives and violations of their rights in their countries. On the other hand, even the inhabitants of E.U. countries face obstacles when they are travelling for purposes the local governments do not like, as the use of Senghen Agreement by Berluskoni’s government shows. International circumstances seem to give to the Gree! k authorities a good opportunity to further limit political refugees’ rights (especially those who are from the Middle East of Muslim countries in general) using as pretenses the threat of terrorism and the U.S. pressures. The granting of political asylum is extremely limited, whole boats of people are send back with brief (and no so legitimate) procedures, while even in individual cases the right to apply for political asylum is violated as the authorities create problems to lawyers and humanitarian organizations.

Two cases of members of the Antiracist Initiative of Thessaloniki –Zulkuf Murat (Bahoz) Bora and Zahir Athari- are characteristics of this situation. The first one is a member of the Kurdistan Liberation Party (PRK-Rizgari), which is outlawed in Turkey, while some of his relatives are prosecuted by the Turkish authorities. He is in Greece since October 1995 and last spring he had done a hunger strike that led to a new examination from the beginning of his application for political asylum, but the General Secretary of the Ministry of Public Order rejected his application.

The application of Afghan Zahir Athari, who came to Greece on May 2001, was also rejected. He is a member of the, outlaw, Afghan Communist Party, while he faces death penalty, according to Islamic law, because he is an atheist. Although Taliban regime is not in power any more, the dangers, for life and freedom, still exist since even for the new regime being atheist is considered illegal and any left organizations are outlaw. Both refugees during their presence in Greece participate actively in a many political and social actions. Also both of them have appealed to these decisions.

Living in a world where daily prohibitions increase, the rights to education, health and labour are considered privileges for some fortunate, people are marginalised as if we all take part –unintentionally- in TV reality shows like “Big Brother” or “Bar”, the struggle to defend political asylum right for the refugees is at the same time a struggle for the right of everyone in life, against external and internal walls that are risen to split us.



We express our solidarity to the political refugees Z. Athari and Z.M. Bora and we consider elementary obligation of Greece to grant political asylum to people who are persecuted for their origin, ideas, and political activities and their lives are threatened if they deported.



To the globalization of exploitation we oppose solidarity without borders

Open borders for the refugees

No to deportations


Antiracist Initiative of Thessaloniki