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Greek Homeless In "Sleep Out" Protest March

astegosThe growing ranks of Greece’s homeless, many saying they were put on the streets by a crushing economic crisis that has cut pay, raised taxes and slashed pensions, march through the capital Athens on April 13 in a protest against the policies activists said could leave entire families without shelter.
In a protest deemed Sleep Out, the protesters said they hoped to awaken Greek politicians to their plight, but the government offers virtually no assistance to them, leaving it to NGO’s and the Greek Orthodox Church, which also operate soup kitchens and food lines for the hungry.
Greece is five years into a recession which activists said has led to a 25 per cent increase in homelessness since 2009. Placards read No Slogans, Just Requests, as protesters asked for basic rights to be respected. “At one time even the homeless, before they ended up on the street, they were paying taxes, paying bills. The government must show a bit more sensitivity,” said one protester.
Anargyros Dimopoulos, a homeless charity volunteer, said the problem is getting worse. “Today we speak of the homeless – single men, women, people. But it’s only a matter of time until we start talking about homeless families. We haven’t seen this yet as a country, maybe because there are some defenses left in society. But eventually it will happen.”
Austerity measures imposed by the government on the orders of international lenders putting up $325 billion in two bailouts has created a record 27.2 percent unemployment – 67 percent for those under 25 – and put 20 percent of the population into poverty.
The symbolic march was organized by the Athens-based non-governmental aid agency, Klimaka, who said there are about 20,000 homeless in the country, most of them in Athens, where they can be seen sleeping in boxes or in sleeping bags or makeshift quarters. The group said nearly half of them have children, and one in five has a college degree.
 
 

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