NEWS

Transfer of drug addicts to migrant detention center causes ire

Coalition partner Democratic Left, opposition party SYRIZA and four rehabilitation groups Friday condemned a decision by the Public Order Ministry to transfer 132 drug users rounded up from central Athens streets during a police sweep on Wednesday to a detention center for undocumented migrants in Amygdaleza, northwest of Athens.

In statements released Friday, both political parties accused the Public Order Ministry of conducting a “pogrom” against drugs addicts, while a joint statement by the rehabilitation groups decried the move as a transgression of the “fundamental rights of the weakest members of society.”

The Public Order Ministry said that the drug addicts would be able to receive better medical treatment at the facility, also prompting the ire of hospital doctors.

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