Greeks do not accept migrants
On the occasion of International Migrants Day this past Saturday, Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos said Greeks feel a «heightened sensitivity» toward immigrants and their problems – even though recent data indicates Greeks are the most xenophobic in the European Union. «Greeks feel this duty (toward migrants) more… because we have lived migration from every point of view,» Pavlopoulos said. However, the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) recently released a survey indicating that Greece views immigration the most negatively of all 25 member-states. Additionally, 84.7 percent of Greeks see migrants as a social threat, while Czechs came in second place with 75 percent. The data, presented to the European Parliament, highlights gaps in the education system and the negative role the media plays, experts say. «Even for the most objective observer, the messages are negative and extremely worrying,» sociologist and criminologist Angeliki Halkia told Sunday’s Kathimerini.
