Target: President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos
Goal: Applaud Greece’s efforts to accept incoming Syrian refugees and peacefully relocate them.
The Greek government has announced that they will be building reception centers for Syrian refugees and will no longer use force against the migrants. The centers will be able to host all of the current refugees and any more incoming ones, with plans to open more centers in the future. As the number of refugees and migrants in Greece has passed 42,000, many petitions–such as this one on ForceChange–were written to stop the government from attacking refugees seeking asylum.
The country has ruled out using force to relocate more that 12,000 men, women, and children. They have decided to persuade them to move and have restricted the use of tear gas to flush them out.
Despite being debt-stricken, Greece has been on the front line since hundreds of thousands of people began to flee Syria and other countries. Europe’s leading humanitarian aid policy maker, Christos Stylianides, told reporters, “We have a moral duty as Europeans to offer this help to refugees” and that Greece can count on the support of the other European countries. Sign the petition below to applaud Greece’s efforts to peacefully relocate the refugees.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear President Pavlopoulos,
The growing immigration crisis isn’t an issue that only concerns Greece–it concerns the entire world. Many countries have taken in thousands of refugees and yet more are still left without a place to stay. The refugees needed a place to live as they attempt to find countries that will take them, and Greece has provided them with the shelter they so desperately needed. Instead of living in waterlogged camps with deteriorated sanitation facilities, they can now live in government-mandated centers.
Thankfully, Greece has received the support of other European nations so that they can continue to support and redirect Syrian refugees to other locations since many European countries have been closing their borders to the refugees. More than 14,000 people are caught in limbo as a result of the border closures and are stuck walking from place to place in hopes of finding a place to stay. I would like to thank Greece for creating welcome centers for the wandering refugees as they wait for countries to open their borders once again or wait for the turmoil in Syria to end.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Anadolu Agency
973 Signatures