Elections

The leader of PASOK, George Papandreou

First, let me be honest, I don’t know much about Greek politics.  Really.  I won’t pretend to understand.  I do know that there was an election on Sunday.  And I know that PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) has won.  I don’t know if this is good or bad; I don’t know if much will change.  Nonetheless, will you join me in prayer for the new leadership of Greece?

This article from Al Jazeera gives a good overview of the issues (e.g. the economy, immigration, corruption, incompetency).  Here is a snippet from the article related to illegal immigration in Greece:

There is another issue nagging away at the Greek consciousness; immigration.

In 2008, almost 150,000 illegal Asian and African immigrants were detained in Greece, many of whom were trafficked into the country by gangs operating from Turkey.

Greece has come under strong criticism from human rights groups, as well as the United Nations, for its clumsy response to the crisis.

In particular, organisations point to the inhumane conditions under which immigrants are often detained, including many children, and the failure to identify genuine asylum-seekers.

The Greek government says the criticism is unfounded, and that other European Union countries should be doing more to help.