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Athens: Economic Crisis Causes Increase in Crime

The deep economic crisis that has hit Greece, entering its fourth year of recession, has had many negative consequences. One of these is a sharp increase in crime across the country.
Armed robberies doubled in the past year and all other types of crime are also increasing by the day, causing citizens to feel more and more uncertain. The police do what they can, despite the fact that there isn’t always petrol for their cars, that the stations are understaffed and that officers are waiting for months to get paid.
In Athens, according to figures released by the institute for tourist research and forecasts, organised crime has reached the highest levels compared to the rest of the country. The figures show that 64% of all murders, 75% of robberies, 64% of thefts and 65.5% of cases of smuggling are recorded in the capital.
”Organise crime, which has seen a sharp rise in the centre of the city but also in its outskirts, must be fought,” said the mayor of the capital, Giorgos Kaminis, in an interview with newspaper To Vima.
The Municipality, the mayor continued, has insufficient resources to fight organised crime but the problem is real in the centre of Athens. The economic crisis, the high concentration of unemployed or under-employed illegal immigrants and the continuous decay of the centre of Athens have created an explosive situation.
Gangs of several nationalities, drug addicts and prostitutes are a regular sight in the centre of the Greek capital. Foreign tourists, scared, leave also the last hotels that are still open and the few inhabitants and shopkeepers that have stayed are living in fear and uncertainty, far away from the reassuring presence of the police. In the past year 18 hotels closed their doors in the historic centre of Athens, according to the Greek Hotel Chamber.
The consequences for the city’s economy and the increase in unemployment in the hotel sector are obvious. Chairman of the Chamber Giorgios Tsakiris said recently in a joint press conference with the mayor of the capital that the degradation of the centre of Athens will force other hotels to close down as well.
Tsakiris also accused the Ministry for Citizen Protection and other relevant institutions – which are responsible for the situation in the centre of Athens according to a report issued by an interdepartmental commission – that they have left the city centre ”in the grip of crime and delinquency” due to their omissions and incompetence. Kaminis has announced after last Friday’s meeting with Premier Lucas Papademos that he will prepare a plan to ”rescue Athens.”
(source: ANSA)

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