Monthly Archives: July 2014

Helen Kapalos recounts her view of the atmosphere in Oakleigh during the last Greece match in the World Cup

In the wee hours of Monday morning a large percentage of Australia’s Greek Australian population mobilised themselves to camp out in the chill of dawn while their Greek national soccer team sweltered in a knock-out world cup qualifier against Costa Rica.

For me there was only one place to be – Melbourne’s version of little Greece – the Greek-centrified suburb of Oakleigh. It is now indisputably Melbourne’s new Greek precinct – and 5,000 revellers squeezed into the mall before first light proved it.

In Brisbane there were similar scenes at Goodwin Park. Sydney hosted fans at the Enmore Theatre and in the nation’s capital, the welcome combination of baristas and egg and bacon rolls were ready to rock from 5.30 am in the CBD.

When I arrived at Oakleigh’s Eaton Mall, I could hardly contain my delight. Greek families filled the booths of the main opposing café franchises, youth lined the balconies, the elderly filed in, the toddlers stared in wonderment at the giant screens, and many a kebab was consumed as the breakfast of choice.

It was a big fat Greek party repeated around the world. The game itself did not disappoint. Like a Greek play, it contained a central theme (the World Cup), it was a spectacle of truly dramatic action, the protagonist with a tragic flaw (the Greek player who failed to score in the penalty shootout who shall remain nameless), and a stage filled with triumph and tragedy.

You can imagine the ensuing commentary that followed Greece’s spectacular loss. Social media exploded with heated dissections of the game, a breakdown of the best and worst players, and the strategies that failed to secure us a spot in the top eight. Passionate commentary you would expect from a passionate nation.

But it wasn’t just about being a proud Greek Australian. Nor was it about being knitted together by strong cultural ties. To me, it reinforced our basic human instinct of the need to belong, regardless of your background. Why groups that play together, stay together, no matter what the outcome is.

It’s wonderful to see a sense of community still so pervasive outside the realms of social media too. It proves we humans inherently need one another to truly strive for an enriching experience, standing side by side, that we still heed an innate desire to connect in big social settings, be it a concert or footy game. Whatever that social context may be, we love being in it together. And that’s just grand.

*Helen Kapalos is a senior journalist with the Seven Network.

source: Neos Kosmos

Greek captain announces retirement following loss to Costa Rica

Greece’s inspirational captain Giorgos Karagounis has announced his retirement from international football, following his country’s round of 16 loss to Costa Rica at Brazil 2014, earlier in the week.

During a career that spanned 15 years, the midfielder experienced the highs of Euro 2004, arguably his country’s greatest sporting achievement, and the lows of missing World Cup qualification two years later.

The 37-year-old told reporters shortly after the Costa Rica loss that “this was my last game for Greece”, following 139 caps and 10 goals.

It is a move that he says would pave the way for younger players to grasp their opportunities with the national team.

“The national team has grown up, younger players have won invaluable experience. This is no small thing and as we helped the team come of age we hope it will continue to be as successful in the future,” he said.

He also voiced his disappointment at not progressing further in Brazil.

“We wanted to stay on another week or even longer but you can’t change it now.”

Karagounis kick started his international career in 1999 against El Salvador and played in three European Championships and two World Cup tournaments.

He scored the opening goal for Greece in its successful 2004 European Championship, against Portugal in the group stages, but missed the final against the same team due to a yellow card he received in Greece’s semi-final victory over the Czech Republic.

His retirement means that Kostas Katsouranis remains the sole representative from that infamous triumph in Portugal 10 years ago.

Source: Reuters and Telegraph UK

Abu Dhabi added to Aegean Airlines’ route map

Abu Dhabi International Airport welcomed the arrival of Aegean Airlines’ new service from Athens with a watery fanfare last month, with water cannons forming a triumphal arch over Aegean’s Airbus A320 after its touchdown.

The new route comes as Aegean, which was awarded the Skytrax award for best regional airline in Europe in 2013, celebrates its 15th anniversary.
Aegean Airlines now operates four flights per week to the UAE capital, departing Athens at 7.00 pm local time, and arriving Abu Dhabi at 12.30am. For the return, Aegean’s flight departs Abu Dhabi at 2.00 am local time, arriving in the Greek capital at 6.00 am.

The new service – which expands long-haul connection options to Greece – comes after the introduction of codeshare agreement signed with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. The agreement means the Greek carrier can now add its ‘A3’ code to Etihad’s flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and in a reciprocal arrangement, Etihad can add its ‘EY’ code to Aegean’s flights from Athens to 16 European destinations.
Dimitris Gerogiannis, Aegean’s CEO, said the airline’s decision to enhance its presence in the Gulf through the Etihad partnership enabled it, as Greece’s
largest commercial carrier, to offer more connection options.

Mr Gerogiannis said he was “confident Greek tourism and businesses will benefit significantly from this development, as will Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE and one of the world’s leading business and tourism destinations”.

Coincidentally Etihad is also celebrating a Greek milestone, with 2014 marking five years of non-stop services between Athens and the Emirates’ capital. Since 2009 the UAE’s national airline has carried almost 400,000 passengers and 3,700 tonnes of cargo on the route, and recently, due to rising demand, the airline has increased its daily Athens-Abu Dhabi services to 10 per week.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer, said that year on year, Etihad’s Athens route had exceeded the airline’s expectations.
“We are delighted to build on this success by adding more capacity to and from Greece, and officially mark our codeshare partnership here in Athens with Aegean Airlines, Greece’s largest commercial airline.” Meanwhile the implications of the codeshare agreement point not just to advantages for the two airlines and their customers. Alexandros Aravanis, Athens International Airport Chief Operations Officer, said the codeshare agreement reflected the continuing dynamic development of the Middle East market.

“This significant collaboration offers more options on the Athens-Abu Dhabi route while also enhancing connectivity out of Athens to destinations beyond Abu Dhabi to Asia, the Far East and Australia.”

With passenger traffic through Athens International Airport in the first five months of 2014 increasing by over 17 per cent (compared to the same period last year) and foreign visitor arrivals increasing by 35 per cent, the latest figures reflect a significant upturn.

The positive trend has been attributed to the stabilisation of the Greek economy, the strengthening of Athens’ attractiveness as a destination, and increases in seat capacity offered by airlines for the summer flight schedule.

source: Neos Kosmos

Forty-one asylum seekers returned to Sri Lanka by Australian authorities are being handed over to criminal investigators in the port city of Galle.

Sri Lanka’s navy has confirmed it received the asylum seekers from Australia on Sunday morning in a mid-sea transfer in waters south of the island nation.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison gave details on the case for the first time today, after more than a week of silence on the fate of two boats which were believed to have been intercepted north-west of Australia late last month.

He said the asylum seekers’ boat, intercepted west of the Cocos Islands, was carrying 37 Sinhalese and four Tamils from Sri Lanka.

In a statement, Mr Morrison said the 41 people on board were scanned by teleconference at sea before beingtransferred to the Sri Lankan navy.

But he refused to discuss the whereabouts of another 153 asylum seekers on another boat believed to be facing the same fate.

Officials say the asylum seekers, all men, will be taken to the port of Galle today and handed over to the Criminal Investigation Division, which is an arm of the intelligence branch.

It is a crime to leave Sri Lanka without leaving by an official port, so people who are caught at sea and returned are often charged with illegal migration offences.

“They will be charged under the Immigrants and Emigrants Act,” police spokesman Ajith Rohana told the Reuters news agency.

“The sentence for those who are proved to have left illegally is two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine.”

Sri Lankan authorities will also be trying to establish if any of the men have any links to any militant groups, which officials say is why the intelligence department must screen them.

A Sri Laankan navy spokesman said it is usually a very quick process, and that the men should appear before a magistrate within 24 to 48 hours.

He said there had been 4,300 people processed and “99.999 per cent” had been released almost immediately.

But human rights lawyers dispute that, and say detainees are held under terrorism laws for up to 28 days or longer. What happens to them is unclear, but human rights lawyers say they face torture and other cruel measures while being held.

The navy spokesman said he did not have any information about plans to transfer more asylum seekers in coming days or weeks.

One asylum seeker ‘opted to return’, others given no choice

The Government says one of the Sinhalese may have had a case for seeking asylum, but opted to be handed back to Sri Lanka after being told they would be sent to Manus Island or Nauru for offshore processing.

The statement also said that all of the people on board were “safe and accounted for” and the boat was not in distress.

“This is how you stop the boats. This is how it has to be done because this is what works,” Mr Morrison said.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young has criticised the screening process, which reportedly involved just four questions via teleconference.

“A telephone conference of four questions – really, if it wasn’t so serious, if it wasn’t about life and death, it’d be laughable,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

Shadow minister for immigration Richard Marles has also questioned the operation.

“Australia’s international obligations are reliant upon a credible processing system and we have deep concerns about how that could have been performed by video link at sea in a way which gave an individual assessment, when all the time the boat was steaming towards Sri Lanka,” Mr Marles said.

The Refugee Action Coalition’s Ian Rintoul says the Government’s screening processes are not adequate.

“You’ve handed people who are fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka back to the Sri Lankan government,” Mr Rintoul said.

“It’s a complete violation of their human rights and the refugee convention.

“Those people should have been brought to Australia and had their claims properly assessed and settled in Australia if they were found to be refugees.”

Legal scholars say transfer may have violated international law

Fifty-three legal scholars from 17 Australian universities say they are “profoundly concerned” the asylum seekers were subjected to “rapid and inadequate screening interviews at sea” before being returned to Sri Lanka.

In a statement, the academics say the Government‘s actions in returning the asylum seekers to their country of origin “raises a real risk of refoulement.”

Refoulement is an international law term that refers to the involuntarily return of refugees to their country of origin in cases where they may face severe human rights abuse or persecution.

The scholars said returning the asylum seekers would breach Australia‘s obligations under international refugee and human rights law, including the 1951 Refugees Convention, 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

They also questioned the legality of holding the asylum seekers at sea.

“Holding asylum seekers on boats in this manner also amounts to incommunicado detention without judicial scrutiny,” they said in a statement.

“We urgently call on the Australian Government to make public its legal justification for this operation.”

Sri Lanka has not directly commented on whether Australia has acted lawfully.

Uncertainty remains over boat intercepted off Christmas Island

It is still not known what happened to the other boat, which was said to be carrying 153 people and was intercepted off Christmas Island more than a week ago.

Senator Hanson-Young says the Government needs to reveal the fate of those on that boat.

“The majority of them, my understanding is, are Tamil asylum seekers, including 37 children. Now, they are still being held in custody on board a customs vessel,” she said.

“They haven’t been handed over to the [Sri Lankan] Navy as yet and the Government needs to start being up front with what’s happening to them and what their fate will be.”

The Tamil Refugee Council claims at least 11 people on that boat have been tortured by Sri Lanka’s intelligence services, adding there must have been more people on the ship in a similar situation.

The Tamil asylum seekers reportedly fled Sri Lanka to a refugee camp in India before boarding a boat to Australia.

Mr Morrison, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and other senior government ministers have all deflected questioning about the boats, repeating that the Government does not comment on operational matters.

Senior Coalition Minister Eric Abetz yesterday denied the Government was “disappearing” asylum seekers, insisting that Australia would continue to uphold its international obligations in relation to those matters.

Mr Morrison will visit Sri Lanka this week to attend a commissioning ceremony for two former Australian Customs patrol vessels gifted to the Sri Lankan government.

The Opposition raised concerns at the time of the decision to pass on the patrol boats, saying there should be clear guidelines placed on their use.

The Greens said that the boats would be used to stop Tamils fleeing persecution and human rights abuses.

source: abc.net.au

Ως ένα μεμονωμένο και ατυχές περιστατικό χαρακτηρίζει ο προφυλακισμένος βουλευτής της Χρυσής Αυγής Γιάννης Λαγός όταν αναφέρεται για τη δολοφονία Φύσσα κατά τη διάρκεια της συμπληρωματικής του απολογίας ενώπιον των ανακριτριών που χειρίζονται της έρευνα.

Ο κατηγορούμενος παραλλήλισε τη δολοφονία Φύσσα με τις συμπλοκές χούλιγκαν.

«Θα ήθελα να αναφερθεί το γεγονός ότι είμαι περιφερειάρχης της Χρυσής Αυγής στον Πειραιά από το 2006. Κατά τα έτη 2006 – 2012 δεν υπάρχει καμία εγκληματική, καμία κακουργηματική, καμία παράνομη πράξη. Άρα το συγκεκριμένο γεγονός, δηλαδή η δολοφονία του Π. Φύσσα, ήταν ένα μεμονωμένο και ατυχές περιστατικό που θα μπορούσε να συμβεί οπουδήποτε και καμία γνώση εγώ δεν είχα και η υπόλοιπη ηγεσία της Χρυσής Αυγής.

Και να τονίσω επίσης, ότι αν για ένα ατυχές γεγονός, τη δολοφονία ενός ανθρώπου, διώκονται βουλευτές και αρχηγός του τρίτου κόμματος στην Ελλάδα, τι θα έπρεπε να γίνει με διάφορα ποδοσφαιρικά σωματεία, στα οποία έχουν γίνει προκαθορισμένα ραντεβού και έχουν υπάρξει νεκροί και τραυματίες» ανέφερε χαρακτηριστικά.

Πηγή: madata.gr

Immigration minister Scott Morrison has confirmed the boat’s passengers had all been safely returned. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: News Corp Australia

The High Court has issued an interim injunction preventing the transfer to Sri Lanka of 153 asylum seekers who are missing on a boat bound for Australia.

The injunction, granted late on Monday in Sydney, applies at least until a hearing resumes on Tuesday afternoon at 2.15pm.

The asylum seekers are represented by Ron Merkel, QC, who argued to Justice Susan Crennan that the transfer was illegal because the asylum seekers had been deprived the ability to have their claims properly assessed.

But it is not clear whether the transfer has already taken place because Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has refused to comment and his lawyers told the court they had not received instructions.

Sources said lawyers were representing the asylum seekers through their families and they have not been in touch with them since contact was lost more than a week ago.

The surprise court action followed an emotional plea from the father of a three-year-old girl on board the boat for Mr Morrison to reveal the fate of the passengers.

“I am desperate to know where my family is,” the man said. He claimed all on board would face persecution if they were sent to Sri Lanka.

“I can’t function at all not knowing.”

The legal move came as Gillian Triggs, the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, announced plans to investigate the treatment of children on the boat if they were transferred to an Australian vessel before being returned to Sri Lanka.

Thirty-seven children are believed to have been on board the boat, which has not been heard from since Saturday, June 28, and left Pondicherry in southern India, on June 13.

Speaking on condition of anonymity from Europe, the father said he had not had contact with his family, including daughter Febrina, for more than a week.

‘‘I cannot understand why a country like Australia would send people back to Sri Lanka, knowing they have been tortured there,’’ he said.

Professor Triggs expressed alarm that the “enhanced screening” process used to reject the claims of another boat of 41 Sri Lankans –  who were transferred at sea to Sri Lankan authorities – appeared in breach of international law.

source: smh.com.au

The Australian government has confirmed it has returned a boatload of refugees to Sri Lanka, outraging human rights groups. The asylum seekers include Tamils, who fear reprisals at home.

In a statement issued on Monday, Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said 41 Sri Lankan asylum seekers traveling by boat had been returned to their home country on Sunday after their refugee claims had been assessed at sea and rejected.

The Sri Lankans were intercepted by Australia’s border patrol off the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean in late June, the statement said, adding that all people aboard the vessel were safe and accounted for.

Morrison told Macquarie Radio that four of the asylum seekers on board were Tamils, but denied that any were in danger of persecution.

Refugee advocates say Tamils still face violence by the Sri Lankan military after a lengthy civil war between government troops and now-defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

In the past three months, three Tamil asylum seekers on temporary visas in Australia have set themselves on fire at the prospect of being sent back to Sri Lanka. Two died.

‘Profound concern’

Morrison’s statements come after he had for days refused to comment on reports that around 200 Sri Lankan refugees traveling in two boats had been intercepted by Australian officials and handed over to Sri Lankan authorities. The minister on Monday again declined to say whether a second boat existed, saying that further comment could endanger Australia’s “on-water” operations.

The United Nations refugee agency last week expressed “profound concern” at the reports, criticizing Australia for processing asylum seekers at sea rather than bringing them ashore to assess their claims.

“UNHCR considers that individuals who seek asylum must be properly and individually screened for protection needs,” the agency said in a statement.

The statement added that “international law prescribes that no individual can be returned involuntarily to a country in which he or she has a well-found fear of persecution.”

Sri Lankan police said on Monday that those returned would be charged with leaving the country illegally. Those found guilty face “rigorous imprisonment,” they said.

Hardline policies

The return of the refugees to Sri Lanka has fueled concerns about Australia’s asylum seeker policies implemented by the country’s conservative government under Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Under the policies, refugee boats are being turned back at sea. Up to now, the vessels have been returned to Indonesia, where refugees from several countries pay people smugglers to get them to Australia aboard boats that are often unseaworthy.

Human rights groups accuse Australia of violating its international obligations, but this is denied by the government.

In 2013, Australia received 16,000 asylum seeker applications, just under 0.5 percent of the 3.6 million applications lodged worldwide, according to UN figures.

The government says there have been no “illegal” arrivals since December 2013 under the turning-back policy.

source: dw.de

Football’s governing body claims ban will make the game more inclusive and multicultural.

Fairfax Media has reported an announcement made by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) that it will prevent new or revised club names, logos and emblems from including in them any ethnic, national, political, racial or religious connotations.

It is a move that is reportedly aimed at nationalising football beyond the constraints of national and ethnic identity.
When Neos Kosmos contacted the FFA, it received the official press release following the announcement.
The press release explained that the policy was developed by member federations and the FFA which identified a need for a holistic national policy that prescribed to consistency across all jurisdictions in Australia.

FFA chief executive David Gallop said the policy is aimed at promoting football as an inclusive, accessible and multicultural sport.
“Football is now a part of the mainstream of Australian society and has achieved that status while also retaining its rich diversity,” he said.
“The very name and logo of a club sends a message about what that club stands for. We want clubs that stand for uniting people through the joy of football.”
The FFA’s new policy will not apply retrospectively to existing clubs.

The Football Federation of Victoria (FFV) took a similar stance to the FFA after the announcement was made.
FFV spokesperson Sammie Black told Neos Kosmos that it agreed with the national policy.

“(The) FFV concurs with the national policy. As stated, it ‘aims to promote and strengthen the reputation of football in Australia by making the sport of football inclusive for all participants. FFA acknowledges the multicultural nature of Australia and the valuable contribution that various communities have made to the historical development of football in Australia. FFA also respects Clubs’ desires to acknowledge their heritage and contribution to their local communities. FFA has a responsibility to protect and grow the reputation of the sport of football in Australia and to ensure its openness and accessibility to all Australians’.”

source: Neos Kosmos

Glenda Humes with Deputy Mayor of Chania Dimitris Lipsakis in Tsikalaria, Crete in May. Photo: Mike Sweet.

Chania Municipality committed to complete the project.

Following the successful presentation of the 42nd Street Plaque to the Chania Municipality in May, Chania’s Deputy Mayor Dimitris Lipsakis has said every effort will be made by the Chania Municipality to have the memorial completed by May 2015 – in time for its inauguration on the 74th anniversary of the Battle of Crete.
With a site having been identified by the municipality near the village of Tsikalaria, efforts are now underway to confirm the transfer of the state-owned land to the local authorities.

Municipality architect engineer Aggelina Sirakouli has been tasked with the job of creating the memorial’s overall design. Until the memorial is complete, the 42nd Street plaque is on display in the permanent Battle of Crete exhibition housed in the Nautical Museum of Crete, Chalidon 21, Chania.

While the cost of the memorial’s final construction is yet to be confirmed, the plaque’s organisers have been told by Deputy Mayor Lipsakis that the municipality will be in a position to allocate funds to the project, as part of its infrastructure program, however a proportion of the final costs may be still required from other sources.
The Friends of 42nd Street Trust – the organisation set up by Glenda Humes (daughter of Captain Reg Saunders MBE, who served in Crete in WWII) to manage the memorial’s development – will continue to work with the municipality and sponsors to complete the memorial.

The Trust’s project co-ordinator Mike Sweet said that the memorial was well on the way to becoming a reality after three years of planning.

“The first step has been achieved, and now – with the Chania Municipality as our partner and hugely supportive one – I’m confident this memorial will be built. It will take a little more time, but what the municipality have in mind is very ambitious. It will be a landmark monument – marking this very special Battle of Crete story,” said Sweet.
The 42nd Street Memorial Plaque has been supported financially by: The Pancretan Association of Melbourne and Victoria; The Cretan Association of Sydney and NSW; The Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand; The Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria, and the Andriotakis family of Sydney.

source: Neos Kosmos

Οι τιμές των ακινήτων αυξήθηκαν στα 9 από τα 10 προάστια της πόλης.

Στο 90% των προαστίων της Μελβούρνης οι τιμές των ακινήτων πήραν την ανιούσα κατά το περασμένο οικονομικό έτος σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία της RP Data.
Σε μερικά προάστια μάλιστα η αύξηση ξεπέρασε τον μέσο όρο αύξησης που ήταν 9,9% αφού ξεπέρασε ακόμα και το 40%.

Η αύξηση των τιμών στα «κλασικά» ακριβά προάστια της πόλης, όπως το Middle Park, για παράδειγμα, ξεπέρασε το 43%. Μεγάλες αυξήσεις στην τιμή των ακινήτων δεν παρατηρήθηκαν όμως μόνο στα ακριβά προάστια της πόλης αλλά και στα δυτικά προάστια της πόλης που θεωρούνταν πιο προσιτά από άποψη τιμής.
Για παράδειγμα, στο προάστιο Braybrook, οι τιμές αυξήθηκαν κατά 25,1% ποσοστό που μεταφράζεται σε περίπου $90,000.
Την ίδια στιγμή, σε 53 από 411 προάστια της Μελβούρνης οι τιμές των ακινήτων μειώθηκαν.

Όπως προκύπτει από τα στοιχεία στα 10 προάστια της πόλης που βρίσκονται στην κορυφή του καταλόγου όσον αφορά το ποσοστό αύξησης των ακινήτων σ’ αυτά, η μέση τιμή των ακινήτων τους αυτή τη στιγμή κυμαίνεται στις $800,000.

Τα στοιχεία της RP Data, αποκαλύπτουν, επίσης, ότι η αύξηση των τιμών στα ακίνητα των δεν μεταφράστηκε και σε έλλειψη ενδιαφέροντος των αγοραστών καθώς προάστια όπως το Middle Park, αλλά και το Hawthorn τα οποία συγκαταλέγονται στα ακριβότερα της πόλης βρίσκονται στην κορυφή του καταλόγου των ακινήτων που βγήκαν στην αγορά και πουλήθηκαν άμεσα.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος