Effi Lambropoulou
(Professor, Criminology, Department of Sociology,
Panteion University of Social & Political Sciences, Athens, Greece)
Copyright: www.rieas.gr
Greece’s debt crisis, shrinking economy, surging unemployment and the continuous waves of illegal immigrants have transformed Athens, once considered one of Europe’s safest capitals, into a city with a growing public sense of insecurity. Today, a part of the city centre of Athens is actually being divided into 'sectors of influence' by several criminally-involved immigrant groups, while two out of seven Athenian communities are largely controlled by organised crime. Previously bourgeois quarters have been gradually 'colonised' by 'legal'-illegal immigrant groups with the support of certain locals and in particular real estate 'gangs' and proprietors, bookkeepers, civil engineers and lawyers. For years now, with the inertia of Greek governments, national and local, concerning immigration, this deteriorating situation has occurred relatively quickly........ Read more