Thousands took to the streets this weekend with at least three separate events held in the Greek capital, and many more around the country.

A walk against discrimination in central Athens was organised by the Greek forum for migrants with the participation of many NGOs, civil society groups and migrant communities. The march was well attended, and culminated in the delivery of a letter to the Greek parliament which was co-signed by all the participating groups, laying out their demands on migration policy.

Banners included “Shut down the concentration camps”, “Solidarity to refugees”, and “Citizenship for all the children”. Greece's new government have pledged to shut down the 'closed hospitality centres' operated by previous governments where migrants were detained for up to 18 months, as well as to grant citizenship to migrants born and brought up in Greece.


Credit: Nikos Libertas / SOOC

One of the participating groups, Multikulti, told The Press Project, “Respect for Human Rights, the acceptance of diversity, the elimination of discrimination and the battle against racism are issues that deserve to have their special day, as is the case with the 21st of March, but it's our duty to work on a daily basis to establish them as a normality. It's very encouraging to see so many people and civil society groups being united against racism, but we also know that Athens has a long and tough way to go before becoming a fully-fledged multicultural European capital”.

Large demonstrations were also held in Thessaloniki, Chania and Patras. Following are some images from the event in Thessaloniki.


Credit: Konstantinos Tsakalidis / SOOC


Credit: Konstantinos Tsakalidis / SOOC

The UN day for the elimination of racial discrimination is held annually on 21 March. Established in 1966, this year's theme was  “Learning from historical tragedies to combat racial discrimination today”, aiming to explore the root causes of racism and racial discrimination and stressing the essential need to learn the lessons history has provided in order to combat racism and racial discrimination today.