‘For five months now, a great life and death struggle has been taking place in defence of the Occupied Refugee Community, spearheaded by the hunger strike of Aristotelis Hantzis, who is currently on the 136th day of a long-term hunger strike, and that of Suzon Doppagne, who is on the 51st,’ the statement said.

In detail:

‘For five months now, a great life and death struggle has been taking place in defence of the Occupied Refugee Community, spearheaded by the hunger strike of Aristotelis Hantzis, who is currently on the 136th day of a long-term hunger strike, and that of Suzon Doppagne, who is on the 51st.

‘Throughout this period, a mass solidarity movement has been activated across Greece and internationally, with hundreds of actions, events, marches, rallies, interventions, articles, resolutions, more than 10,000 signatures of support and more than 1,000 people in the register of friends of the residents’ civil non-profit organisation, which serves as the legal vehicle for the rehabilitation of Prosfygika by the community itself. Collectives, grassroots projects, organisations, associations, clubs and hundreds of people in solidarity have been part of this struggle from the first moment, highlighting that social self-organisation is the only way out in the times we are living through.

‘This entire movement of solidarity and support has created broad social acceptance, recognising the consistency and stability of the social and political work of the Occupied Refugee Community over the years. The result of this bottom-up social mobilisation has been to highlight the issue, secure institutional recognition of the community and denounce the Attica Region’s evacuation plan by various institutional bodies, such as international organisations, municipal councils, factions and parliamentary parties, which have issued statements of support and requested, including through timely questions in Parliament, the satisfaction of our just demands.

‘At the same time, the multitude of irregularities and illegalities in Regional Governor Nikos Hardalias’ infamous “redevelopment” plan for the Prosfygika refugee housing has been highlighted in the clearest and most unambiguous way, both socially and institutionally. In essence, and by common admission, this is a false, non-existent, illegal and unworkable plan, involving human rights violations, a complex ownership regime, dubious financing, changes to essential terms, outdated and illegal technical studies, violations of Greek, EU and international law and more. As a result, it has essentially been shelved and remains at the same stage it was at last June, when the decision of the regional committee approving the conclusion of the programme agreement was issued. Or, to be more precise, it is even further behind that stage, as the Ministry of Public Works, one of the three parties to the proposed contract and the main funding body, has already withdrawn.

‘At European and international institutional level, support for the community and the denunciation of the Attica Region’s death policy have gone beyond domestic institutions. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, has already taken up the case as a priority, having identified the threat of human rights violations, and his report is expected to be published soon. A question was submitted to the European Commission in the European Parliament on 11 June 2026, signed by 33 MEPs from different parties, highlighting that the European funding of the supposedly planned reconstruction project for Prosfygika is completely illegal. This was preceded by two more questions by Greek MEPs from different factions to the European Commission, on 13 May 2026 and 10 June 2026, also denouncing the Hardalias plan, the violation of human rights and the illegal use of European funds. Even a Belgian MP has submitted a question to the Belgian Parliament about the illegal actions of the Attica Region. At the same time, Hardalias’ plans have been criticised by Amnesty International for numerous human rights violations, both by its Greek and Belgian sections. In the coming days, a petition will be submitted to the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee and an application to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy.

‘In essence, regarding the Attica Region’s plan for Prosfygika, there is no tender, no programme contract, no original contracting parties, not even a legal decision by the regional committee, as has been proven and is accepted by almost all official bodies except the region itself, and now no funding either.

‘From the very beginning, the Occupied Refugee Community has declared in practice that it is open to dialogue, within serious formal procedures, based on its demands and, of course, on the reality that already exists in Prosfygika. So far, the person chiefly responsible for the problem, Attica Regional Governor Nikos Hardalias, despite his public and non-public commitments to dialogue and consultation, whether made by him or by artificial intelligence software, has refused to carry them out. This is despite the fact that the issue of Prosfygika has not been discussed in the regional council since 2018, and despite the fact that this was officially requested twice by the community, as well as by a written request from the Popular Rally faction on 27 April 2026. Correspondingly, the Mitsotakis government, on the one hand, through its deputy ministers in Parliament, speaks of scaremongering and the absence of a plan for Prosfygika, while on the other, through its government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis, it threatens repression and evictions and declares that “the law is above human rights”.

‘Today, after months of mockery, with the health condition of the hunger strikers after 136 days of hunger strike at its most critical point, with irreversible damage to their health and an immediate risk of death, and since the community has pursued every means of political and institutional pressure and dialogue, the struggle to defend Prosfygika and the two hunger strikers has already become the responsibility of society and its movements.

‘As for the person chiefly responsible for the problem, Hardalias should leave behind the communications games and the fascist and Nazi practices of population replacement, of the past or even the present, as in the colonial genocidal state of Israel. He should stop looking for cheap solutions and finally assume the responsibility that is his for implementing what he is legally obliged to do: to immediately revoke decision 846/2025 of the Regional Committee of the Attica Region, cancel the rehabilitation-evacuation plan for Prosfygika and comply with the Greek and European legislation and case law that he so often invokes.

‘As for the mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, the only person responsible for social housing issues, as well as the other responsible parties, they must immediately assume their share of political and institutional responsibility, unless they wish to bear responsibility for the death of the first hunger strikers in Greece.

‘In the face of absolute and guilty silence, in the face of announcements generated by artificial intelligence software and practices of filing, apartheid and population replacement, in the face of the denial of any dialogue and the constant mockery of hundreds of residents and hunger strikers by state bodies, the community clearly declares that the struggle will continue and that proposals for consultation and dialogue must be substantive. The government, the Attica Region and the Municipality of Athens are accountable, both politically and criminally, for anything that happens from now on, assuming responsibility for their conscious and intentional death policy, through the blackmail of “death or displacement”, “gentrification or evacuation”.

‘Victory to the demands of hunger strikers Aristotelis Hantzis, on day 136, and Suzon Doppagne, on day 51.

‘Prosfygika will remain in the hands of society.

‘Either we will win or we will win.

‘20 June 2026

‘Occupied Refugee Community’

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