20 november 2015 – Closed borders across Europe could leave many people stranded in Greece.
Dimitris Christopoulos, vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights, spoke to HuffPost Greece about how the Paris attacks may impact Greece’s refugee crisis and how the Greek government has handled the situation thus far.
“I see more restrictive policies possibly prevailing over the openness that Germany attempted this summer. It would be a bad development for Greece if we turn from a transit country into a holding country, bringing all the discussion about detention centers to the fore again.
For Europe in general, if such policies prevail, it will be a vindication of the extreme-right agenda and everything that entails. In less than a hundred years, there could be another war within Europe if the extreme right becomes the legitimate political expression of a large part of the European population. Europe cannot take that. Europe must realize that if it goes down that road, it will undermine its own existence as a political structure.
Therefore, in the long term, by helping refugees we are basically helping ourselves. I think this is something that we should all realize.”
This story originally appeared on HuffPost Greece. It was translated into English and edited for a global audience. Interview with Dimitris Christopoulos by Angeliki Kougiannou
Read the complete interview in English: Huffpost Greece/Christopoulos/interview
Read the complete interview in Greek: The Huffington Post Greece/Χριστόπουλος/συνέντευξη
©A. Kougianou/D. Christopoulos. BRON
Foto: Credit SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES