By Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A symbolic anti-racism rally was held in the center of Athens on Tuesday on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination commemorated annually on March 21, as a new survey revealed the increased xenophobia of Greek society.
During a "walk against discriminations" organized with the initiative of the Greek Forum of Migrants, politicians, artists and representatives of various groups confronting racism (LGBT, Roma, migrants, HIV positive, refugees, drug addicts, religious minorities etc.) shouted "no to racism" in front of the Greek parliament.
Among protesters "marching together for a better world" was Maria Giannakaki, Secretary General of Transparency and Human Rights at the Greek Ministry of Justice, conveying the message of the Greek government against racism.
The phobic and racist syndromes are incompatible with the status of an EU member-state, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said in an e-mailed message for the day.
"We are united. This phenomenon (racism) does not concern only refugees and migrants... We are all here together; united sending the message that in a state committed to the rule of law it is our obligation to defend the weak," Ahmed Moavia, head of the Greek Forum of Migrants, told Xinhua during Tuesday's protest.
"We are all equal, there are no differences. Equality." Sadia from Egypt added.
Anna Perkin joined the march representing the transgender community.
"In the trans community we know well what racism and discrimination is... Starting from our families to the job market, where marginalization is huge, we face many problems on a daily basis... Have you seen several trans people working in the public sector?" she said.
Banners with messages for humanity, equality and solidarity were also raised on Saturday when another 2,000 protesters participated in a similar rally.
Nevertheless, the results of a poll released on Tuesday showed that the fight against prejudice and racism is still long.
Although Greek people have been praised in the past two years for the solidarity they demonstrated facing the refugee-migrant influx in addition to the seven- year debt crisis, the survey revealed widespread xenophobia.
Almost two thirds of Greeks consider migrants a threat on an economic, social and cultural level, according to a survey by the National Center for Social Research (EKKE), Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
The 65 percent of respondents said that migrants were bad for Greece's economy, 59 percent consider that migrants are taking their jobs and 57 percent that cultural life has deteriorated because of migrants, rather than becoming enriched.
