Workers Solidarity Movement

Yesterday (Wednesday 9th March) the hunger strike of 300 migrants in Greece ended in victory after key concessions were made by the Greek government. The 300 undocumented migrants, who lived and worked in Greece for years, usually at a fraction of the minimum wage, had been on hunger strike for 44 days, after being told that, due to the economic crisis, they were no longer wanted and must either leave voluntarily or be deported.

The strikers, dozens of whom have been hospitalised in states of near organ-failure, were demanding nothing more than the basic recognition of their humanity in the face of brutal and dehumanising immigration laws - for the most minimal of labour protections and living conditions in a system that sees them as less that human simply because of who they are and where the come from.

Following the government's concessions it has now been agreed that:

• The time limit for application for permanent residence in Greece has now been dropped from twelve years to eight years.
• Work credit has been disconnected from the application for permanent residence.
• All 300 migrant hunger strikers will be allowed to apply for 6-month rolling permits until they reach the 8-year limit in order to gain permanent residence.

These reforms, while moderate, represent a major victory on the part of the hunger strikers, who have now paved the way for thousands of migrants to live in Greece without fear of being undocumented.

Edit: A slight modification to the above information was announced this afternoon by the good people at the occupied london blog:

CORRECTION 13:00 GMT+2, March 10 Contrary to the original reports (as re-posted here, see below) the work credits have not been completely disconnected from permanent residence status for the migrants. What has happened instead is that they have been significantly reduced (down from 200 to 120, a 40% decrease). This is still very significant and will help tens of thousands of people to get permanent residence.