My suggestion on the Refugee Issue – Action Plan

My suggestion on the Refugee Issue – Action Plan

Δράσεις και εκστρατείες ενημέρωσης

In Countries of Origin:

Creation of actions and campaigns to inform candidate illegal immigrants.

Campaigns on local websites,  newspapers and channels of migrants’ countries of origin, as in the case of Hungary. Due to the large number of immigrants and refugees from Lebanon and Jordan, the Hungarian government published a full pages in newspapers in Lebanon (An-Nahar) and Jordan (Al-Rai) on Monday 21 September 2015, warning potential immigrants not to illegally entering the country, saying it is a crime punishable by imprisonment.

“Do not listen to human smugglers. Hungary will not allow illegal immigrants to cross its territory.”

A sample of spot:

Within borders:

Empowering immigrant communities within the country and removing those who have interconnections with slaves.

Border protection

Terrestrial border:

It is true that Greece is bound by:

  1. The Geneva International Convention
  2. The Schengen Convention &
  3. The second Dublin Convention

The protection of the borders of Greece must be done in cooperation with other states and bearers such as Turkey and England (where it can exert pressure on Turkey to deal with operation issues in human trafficking and the issue of delivering them to justice – cooperation should be formal), NATO to stop the flow of potential irregular immigrants and refugees before they reach the land border, (due to the circumstances mentioned above, the country cannot return irregular immigrants or not to examine any requests from refugees).

Maritime Borders:

Shield at sea borders should be the navy ships with NATO assistance. Both segregation and identification of refugees by irregular immigrants should take place in international waters.

Identification and recording:

The identification of large numbers of immigrants and refugees is a shield for international security and at the same time support of the rights of refugees to recognize and separate them from irregular migrants. This can only be done in the presence of interpreters and their specialists.

Housing, Care and Hospitalization

Readmission Centers (Reservation)

Hospitality Centers(closed type)

Places of unaccompanied children

Creation of different hosting centers, where refugees will be separated based on their destination, religion, nationality and language. This will avoid potential tensions, facilitate the whole process, and create an integrated database of their path to their final destination.

Creation of a committee of immigrant associations

In Greece there are over 500 immigrant associations. These clubs are separated by religion, nationality and belief. It is therefore vital to set up a “Committee of Immigrant Associations” to organize and control existing clubs, since, behind the existence of a “club”, illegal activities such as trafficking in human beings are hidden.

Intercultural Police

POLICE STATION OF ATTICA

INTERCULTURAL POLICE OFFICE

Mission:

It is the bridge of communication with immigrant communities in the wider region of Attica. The mission of the Intercultural Police Office is to maintain open communication with the communities of the Balkan, Southeast Asian and African countries living in the Attica region.

Description:

The Intercultural Police Office will be administratively subordinated to the Headquarters of the Hellenic Police Force and to the Ministry of Citizen Protection, but will be an independent Special Service directly under the Head of the Hellenic Police Force. It could potentially take the form of an autonomous Directorate and sub-directorates in other regions of the country other than Attica (e.g. Northern Greece subdivision) etc. Obvious reasons for independence, but also the diversity of the Office’s mission impose the above approach to its organizational structure within Hellenic Police.

The role of the Office will be mediatory rather than repressive.

The Office will be open to the public (to legal and illegal residents in the country) and will be responsible for transmitting citizens’ complaints and oppositions to the competent state authorities.

Intercultural police officers will be recipients and will receive walk-in reports of crimes, accidents, extortion, and threats.

Intercultural police officers will hold presentations on crime prevention and stand by the side of citizens to provide useful information in their own language.

Intercultural police officers will be attending events from different communities and will send thank-you messages both in writing and video.

Intercultural Police Officers will respond to citizens’ inquiries,  requests and complaints and telephone calls via a four-digit XXXX.

At first, the Intercultural Police Office will serve the major population communities of Attica (Albanian, African, Arabic, Pakistani, Russian, Georgian as well as the Filipino community) with 12 intercultural police officers who will speak the relevant languages and main dialects respectively.

Housing:

The Intercultural Police Office will be housed in an independent exclusive building.

Intercultural Police Officers:

The Intercultural Police Office will be staffed by 12 Intercultural Police Officers and their Commander. Intercultural Police Officers should be born in Greece and originated in one of the following areas:

Albania (1 person)

Africa (1 French speaker και 1 English speaker)

Pakistani (1 Punjabi και 1 Pashtun)

Philippines (1 person)

Arabian Countries (1 Sunni και 1 Shiite)

Russia (1 person)

Georgia (2 persons)

The 12 intercultural police officers will participate in a special training program to learn legislation, the procedures for receiving and processing complaints and oppositions, and the competent bodies to which the offenses notified should be referred.

The training will be for a minimum of 3 months and will be conducted by the Center for Security Studies.

Required Qualifications for Recruitment:

  • Men and women are eligible to participate in the competition: Greek citizens or expatriates from Northern Epirus, Cyprus and Turkey
  • Age: from 22 to 35 years old
  • Clear criminal record

They have not been convicted of committing or attempting to commit felony or crimes of insubordination, desertion, insurrection of the state, betrayal of the State, insults against state power, against the exercise of civil rights, counterfeiting, pseudorandom, false idol, imprisonment, misconduct, manslaughter other than negligence, sexual freedom and economic exploitation of sexual life, defamatory theft, fraud, embezzlement, begging, fraud, bribery, oppression, drugs, zoology, smuggling or any other offense committed by a deceased person who has been imprisoned for at least three (3) months.

  • Graduation from a university or TEI of Greece
  • Speak fluently Greek and at least one foreign language (English, Albanian, French, Punjabi, Pashtun, Filipino, Arabic, Russian, Georgian)
  • Fine physique, ascertained by the competent Health Board
  • Mast (men and women) at least 1.70 m without footwear
  • Physical, mental and psychological qualifications, meeting the requirements of police work

Commander:

The Intercultural Police Office will be run by a Police Director – preferably woman – (alternate from the Greek Police Corps with a Grade Director). The candidate’s prerequisite for the position of the Director is his commitment to the meaning and value of Interculturality.

It is proposed that the position occupies a woman on the one hand as a presumption of the practical application of the non-discrimination and respect for diversity policy and on the other hand, as a move emphasizing the role of the Agency as a contributor to the protection of social cohesion, smooth integration, mutual respect, regardless of ethnic, religious, racial and cultural differences. In addition, female temperament and sensitivity is seen as another factor that will positively contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of this innovative institution, and will also facilitate the acceptance of the effort by other stakeholders (e.g. Local Authorities, Collective Institutions and Citizens’ Agencies etc.).

Additional information:

The costume of the 12 Intercultural Police Officers and the Governor of the Intercultural Police Office will be the same as that of the Hellenic Police and will be marked with the insignia on the arm: “Intercultural Police”.

Intercultural police officers will not carry weapons.

Intercultural police officers will have wireless.

For the efficient operation of the Intercultural Police Office in Attica, it will require 3 cars (patrols) with wireless and siren.

Purpose:

The Intercultural Police Office is expected to contribute to the security and protection of the communities mentioned above by offering support and assistance from the Intercultural Police for the prevention of crime. In addition, partnerships will be developed to prevent, reduce and eradicate the barriers faced by immigrant and refugee communities, be it criminal or something else. To address the individual as well as the general concerns of these communities, the necessary bridges of communication and trust will be built to facilitate the culture process. Police services that are fair, impartial, prudent, respecting the individual dignity, peculiarities and culture of all individuals, elements that are fundamental human rights in a modern society, will be provided.

In Conclusion

The Intercultural Police Office:

  • Serves migrant communities on matters of police competence by talking to them in their own language,
  • It builds bridges to communicate with migrant communities and their representatives
  • It ensures the peaceful coexistence of communities and the reduction of crime that develops within these communities
  • It has a supervisory role in monitoring the activities of these communities, while protecting the whole of Greek society from possible criminal activities threatening the social calm that it can anticipate thanks to the timely and accurate collection of information
  • It also protects the communities themselves from being unwittingly motivated by other interests and prevents acts of organized crime and terrorism
  • It collaborates with Attica Security, the New Police Intelligence Service, the Attikarhi and other services dealing with security, feeding them with information.

For these reasons, the role of people who can talk, translate and, above all, interpret exactly what is spoken in each of the above-mentioned languages is crucial.

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