Refugee held hostage in Europe battling scorching heat and police harassment

KATHMANDU, Aug 22: Anwar Nillufary, a refugee seeking justice and freedom, has been battling scorching heat and constant police harassment in Greece.

Nillufary is a 37-year-old Stateless Kurd, a Civil Engineer by profession, arrived a decade ago in Europe following a number of circumstances, where he had to flee his country due to being a political activist raising voices for social reforms.

Along with facing various hardships of being a refugee in Greece, he is also trying to survive the life-threatening temperature in Athens. The temperature has crossed 40 degrees Celsius on multiple occasions severely affecting the condition of the refugees in Greece. Nillufary has said that the temperature in Athens has become “unbearable”.

Nillufary, a recognized refugee by Greece with legal status, was unlawfully deported to Greece from Sweden in 2015 on the basis of the Dublin Regulations, despite its suspension for Greece at the time which was a direct consequence of false and incomplete information provided to him by the Greek authorities and NGOs based in the country a year prior to his departure for Sweden. This led to his suffering for all these years.

Nillufary has been living in scarcity facing problems like hunger, thirst, and many other livelihood problems. He has stationed himself in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office at Michalakopoulou 91, Athens 115, 28, Greece, as a protest to the injustice done to him. His pursuit of justice and freedom has always been ignored and opposed by the authorities in Greece.

“On Friday, it reached 40 degrees Celsius”, Nillufary told Ratopati, “There was also an Orange warning for Extreme High Temperature for Saturday.

“It surpassed 40 degrees that day [Saturday] with another warning for Sunday all issued by the Greek National Meteorological Services,” Nillufary says that the temperature inside his shelter is consistently more extreme than outside, warmer in the summer and colder during the cold seasons.

He has been forced to remain outside in the dust rather than seeking refuge inside the shelter due to the extreme yet. Yet the temperature outdoors remains “unbearably high” sometimes crossing 40 degrees Celsius. Nillufary has said that the shade of the tree next to his shelter has made it bearable for the past few weeks. Yet he is worried that the tree might be pruned soon.

“In 2017, the tree was merely a freshly planted sapling with sparse foliage and no shade,” Nillufary says, “Nevertheless, if it undergoes another pruning, similar to what happened in 2020, due to their ongoing hostility towards me, the situation will further be exacerbated.”

Nillufary alleges that there are no hygiene services available at his shelter. It takes about an entire season before he is able to shower and launder his clothes, which is only possible if someone volunteers to assist him. He has repeatedly requested the UNHCR for accommodation, which has yet to be fulfilled. Disregarding the hostile environment and continuously battling such extreme weather conditions without receiving any form of relief has become a matter of survival for Nillufary.

The UNHCR is the official organization that has the responsibility for the refugees, but it has ignored the issues of his well-being and deprived him of his basic needs, like food and water.

“My repeated requests to the UNHCR for my immediate accommodation have not yet been fulfilled despite being in front of their office since March 21st, 2017”, he says “All other life-threatening factors aside, such as prolonged hunger, extreme cold during cold seasons, and extreme warmth during the summer season, are also posing serious threats to my health and well-being.

“My perpetually empty stomach makes the situation far less tolerable for me. There have been reports of people dying in many places due to both extreme weather conditions.”

In addition to suffering from extreme climate, there are no contributions to his Fundraising Campaign. He also experiences frequent harassment from passersby and even policemen. “Some days earlier, I overheard a group of individuals in a car shouting ‘Hunger Strike’ and laughing at me as their car drove past,” says Nillufary. The Police have also been harassing him and detaining him without any reason. He was detained multiple times by the Police, for up to 3 hours before he was let go. 

“On July 10th, 2023, a group of 4 Policemen in black uniforms with two Motorcycles suddenly showed up in front of my shelter and took me to the district Police Station”, he told Ratopati, “They didn’t give any explanation as to why they were here, on whose order/request and what they wanted, but at the Police Station they kept me in Custody for 3-hours before I was let go.”

“I had a great deal of anxiety about the possibility that my shelter might have been destroyed and vanished by them again. However, that wasn’t the case, and I found all my belongings remained intact” he says, “Nevertheless, if they had done so, it would have marked the sixth occurrence of this reprehensible behavior on their part.”

Nillufary mentions that another group of 4 Policemen came back to take him back, but they let him be and didn’t take him away as he was videotaping what was unfolding at the moment. He suspects that someone might have been contacting the Police. 

He says - “Upon their departure, I observed the receptionist at the UNHCR building who was standing outside. I took the opportunity to inquire, whether it was them who had contacted the Police and if so, the reason behind it.

“The receptionist stated that it was not them and that they had no knowledge of who might have made the call. When I mentioned that I had not even attempted to speak to the UNHCR through the receptionist that day, the receptionist suggested that it may have been the young couple who appeared in front of my shelter at the same time as the Police earlier that day.”

But he questions if they had any valid reasons to contact the Police. The young couple were an Italian ladu and a Greek gentleman, who were also escorted to the Police station supposedly for not possessing their identification documents when requested by the Police. “However, unlike myself, they were promptly released, thereby suggesting potential bias and discrimination against individuals of different backgrounds”, Nillufary says.

A few days after, the Police came to take him away again, while he was sleeping, and detained him for another 3 hours “in the same small and dirty room with no place to sit or lay down on except for bare concrete”. They apparently provided no information as to the justification for his detainment.

Nillufary says that he received a call on July 07th, 2023, from the Evelpidon Court to testify before a Judge on July 13th, 2023. This testimony pertains to a range of physical assaults, rape, and attempted murder, he endured at the hands of the Greek Police at Syntagma Police Station on August 18th, 2021. He speculates that this might be related to the constant harassment he is receiving from the Police.

He says - “Additionally, on that day, soon after they removed me from the premises of the Australian Embassy, where I sought Australia's assistance in resolving this ongoing Hostage-taking and my complete deprivation in Greece, they also caused extensive damages to my property (Mobile Phones).

“If indeed this was the reason behind the recent harassment by the Police, then how exactly they could have known about it, is also subject to speculations as I have not shared anything online about this subpoena prior to July 13th and days afterwards.”