Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC)

[makgerman]

Well done AMHRC/MHRMI. Keep up the good work.

This should have been done a long time ago. Years have passed and no one has been willing to go all the way as you intend to do.

What is unfortunate many of our parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties have passed away and will not be around to witness it.

[vodenka]

Well done! It is never too late for justice.

[julie]

AMHRC/MHRMI , my champions.
Well done guys, however long it takes for an outcome is irrelevant, setting a wonderful precedent for the recognition of Macedonians in the Aegean, and for the wrongful acts. This is the beginning, of showing the test of the world what the Greeks have done to the Macedonians is the biggest miscarriage of justice and travesty in cultural genocide on the disgusting partitioning and forced assimilation into Hellass.

Pozdrav you guys are my heroes, you ROCK

[Risto the Great]

Just seeing one person all the way through to justice will achieve great things.
Seeing hundreds through will create an imbalance that will cause worlds to collide.
Well done to the AMHRC/MHRMI.

[blackcactus]

Standing up to the bastards is tonic

Making them pay is justice

[BigMak]

well done great stuff, also leads me to the question of what has the UMD done to help in this matter?

[Grotius]

This is a great initiative, which holds out more than just the prospect of a return of citizenship and property (which is enormously important), but a real boost to morale and pride for Macedonians.

[Mikail]

Well done to all involved in AMHRC & MHRMI.

Teach the bastards a lesson they'll live to regret forever

[Soldier of Macedon]

Carry on AMHRC and MHRMI, another fantastic initiative.

[AMHRC]

AMHRC/MHRMI Respond to Misinformation

AMHRC/MHRMI STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO MISINFORMATION REGARDING THE SO-CALLED "DECISION" TO RETURN GREEK CITIZENSHIP TO MACEDONIANS FROM GREECE

Melbourne, Australia and Toronto, Canada (30/4/2010) - The Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) and Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) are issuing this statement in order to answer some questions that have arisen as a result of what appears to be a misinformation campaign orchestrated by Greek sources. It has been alleged that the Greek government has made a decision to return citizenship to Macedonian exiles who originate from Greece.

These false reports stemmed from an exchange of letters between the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Thomas Hammarberg and Greece’s Deputy Minister of Interior, Decentralization and e-Governance, Ms Theodora Tzakri.

Following his 2009 visit to Greece, Mr Hammarberg wrote to Greek authorities asking:

Moreover, I would welcome further information on the restoration of Greek nationality for those persons who lost it on the basis of former Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Code. As mentioned in our meeting, these include stateless persons living in Greece and abroad. I would be grateful for any updated information you could provide on the number of former Greek citizens presently living as stateless persons in Greece and abroad, the extent to which they have been able to have their citizenship restored and any measures envisaged to facilitate the process of restoration of their Greek nationality.

In a response dated 13 April 2010, Ms Tzakri replied to Mr Hammarberg and wrote:

Finally, in regards to Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Code it has ceased to exist. Based upon the new legislation of the Greek Nationality Code persons who lost their citizenship are entitled to reapply in order to restore their Greek citizenship. Currently the Greek Government is in the process of evaluating a number of applicants who based on former Article 19 lost their Greek Nationality. Therefore to this extent the Greek Government has also been working to the direction of facilitating the process of persons wishing to reapply for citizenship based on the former Article 19.

A scanned copy of the letter sent by Ms Tzakri to Mr Hammarberg can be found here:

https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1610517&Site=CommDH&BackColorInternet=FEC65B&BackColorIntranet=FEC65B&BackColorLogged=FFC679

In relation to the above mentioned letter, it needs to be emphasised that Macedonians did not lose their citizenship on the basis of the former Article 19. The majority of victims of this former Article were ethnic Turks from Western Thrace. In any case, Tzakri’s letter to the Human Rights Commissioner made a general point about facilitation and has no commitment by the Greek government to actually restore citizenship. The letter also fails to mention that the new Greek citizenship law has a “public security” clause, which could further complicate matters for this category of people. Finally, the new law specifies that refugees may have an application for citizenship considered if they lawfully reside in Greece and of course Macedonian exiles (especially those who are prevented from returning to their place of birth because of Greece’s discriminatory 1982 laws which only permit the return of individuals that are ethnic Greeks) do not fulfill this requirement.

The AMHRC and MHRMI believe that the spreading of the misinformation is a deliberate attempt to dissuade Macedonians from taking action to restore their citizenship and property rights by giving them a false hope that the matter will soon be resolved by the Greek state. It is regrettable that these reports were naively ‘applauded’ by certain individuals and reported by some media outlets which failed to check their accuracy.

As was announced on 23 April 2010, AMHRC/MHRMI, in cooperation with the Association of the Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia of Melbourne and Victoria, the Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia (ARCAM) in Canada and Macedonian refugee associations in the Republic of Macedonia have decided to launch a campaign for legal action against the Greek state to restore citizenship and property rights to Macedonians from Greece. All these organisations appeal once more to Macedonians from Greece who lost their citizenship to join this important action.

###

Established in 1984 the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) is a non governmental organisation that informs and advocates to governments, international institutions and broader communities about combating discrimination and promoting basic human rights. Our aspiration is to ensure that Macedonian communities and other excluded groups throughout the world are recognised, respected and afforded equitable treatment. For more information please visit www.macedonianhr.org.au, or contact AMHRC at [email protected] or via +61 3 93298960.

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has been active on human and national rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986. For more information, please visit www.mhrmi.org, or contact MHRMI at 416-850-7125, or [email protected].

[DIMO]

To AHHRC, good on you guys for all the good work. One question are kris popov or jim tomev involved in your committies?

[Volk]

A Call For Macedonia To Immediately Cease Name Negotations

http://www.eurasiareview.com/2010/04/call-for-macedonia-to-immediately-cease.html

Excellent! Its time all Macedonians around the world called for a complete end to 'negotiations' - Harakiri,

Its time the UMD also demand an end to the 'talks', Macedonia will never change its name, the page should be turned now!

[DIMO]

totally agree Volk

[Prolet]

Reeker, Fouere in hot water over ill statements

Friday, 30 April 2010

In light of US Ambassador Philip Reeker's recent comments that "The [name] issue must be solved, because if not, a question mark is put on Macedonia's future", Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) and the Australian Macedonian Human Rights committee (AMHRC) reiterate their call for Macedonia to cease all negotiations with Greece over its name.

Mr. Reeker added, "The clock is ticking, it needs to be done right now, and we encourage both Macedonia and Greece to do this."

How can you ask a country to negotiate its own name?

The nonsensical name dispute was initiated by Greece in order to continue its policy of non-recognition and persecution of its large Macedonian minority. Former Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis admitted in 1995, "My main aim was to convince the Republic (of Macedonia) to declare that there is no Slavomacedonian minority in Greece. This was the real key of our difference with Skopje".

Ironically, Greece claims exclusivity to the name Macedonia, but it was not until 1988 when Greece realized that independence for the Republic of Macedonia was imminent, that it renamed “Northern Greece” to the “Province of Macedonia.”

Phillip Reeker added the country was faced with destabilization if name not solved. This was echoed by the EU representative Erwan Fouere. Sadly, this sort of sentiment has been repeated since 2000. Foreign diplomats' mission is to represent their own respective country, yet they act is they were elected in the Macedonian parliament by constantly meddling in the internal affairs of the country. Reeker and Fouere believe that Macedonia as a young country can be possibly persuaded into doing something (in this case ethnic suicide) by using scare tactics?!

The Macedonian government needs to seriously take a note of foreign diplomats' statements in the country and analyze whether they should be allowed to continue their stay.

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/13783/1/

[AMHRC]

AMHRC/MHRMI Respond to Misinformation on Greek Citizenship

AMHRC/MHRMI STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO MISINFORMATION REGARDING THE SO-CALLED "DECISION" TO RETURN GREEK CITIZENSHIP TO MACEDONIANS FROM GREECE

Melbourne, Australia and Toronto, Canada (30/4/2010) - The Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) and Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) are issuing this statement in order to answer some questions that have arisen as a result of what appears to be a misinformation campaign orchestrated by Greek sources. It has been alleged that the Greek government has made a decision to return citizenship to Macedonian exiles who originate from Greece.

These false reports stemmed from an exchange of letters between the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Thomas Hammarberg and Greece’s Deputy Minister of Interior, Decentralization and e-Governance, Ms Theodora Tzakri.

Following his 2009 visit to Greece, Mr Hammarberg wrote to Greek authorities asking:

"Moreover, I would welcome further information on the restoration of Greek nationality for those persons who lost it on the basis of former Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Code. As mentioned in our meeting, these include stateless persons living in Greece and abroad. I would be grateful for any updated information you could provide on the number of former Greek citizens presently living as stateless persons in Greece and abroad, the extent to which they have been able to have their citizenship restored and any measures envisaged to facilitate the process of restoration of their Greek nationality."

In a response dated 13 April 2010, Ms Tzakri replied to Mr Hammarberg and wrote:

"Finally, in regards to Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Code it has ceased to exist. Based upon the new legislation of the Greek Nationality Code persons who lost their citizenship are entitled to reapply in order to restore their Greek citizenship. Currently the Greek Government is in the process of evaluating a number of applicants who based on former Article 19 lost their Greek Nationality. Therefore to this extent the Greek Government has also been working to the direction of facilitating the process of persons wishing to reapply for citizenship based on the former Article 19."

A scanned copy of the letter sent by Ms Tzakri to Mr Hammarberg can be found here:

https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1610517&Site=CommDH&BackColorInternet=FEC65B&BackColorIntranet=FEC65B&BackColorLogged=FFC679

In relation to the above mentioned letter, it needs to be emphasised that Macedonians did not lose their citizenship on the basis of the former Article 19. The majority of victims of this former Article were ethnic Turks from Western Thrace. In any case, Tzakri’s letter to the Human Rights Commissioner made a general point about facilitation and has no commitment by the Greek government to actually restore citizenship. The letter also fails to mention that the new Greek citizenship law has a “public security” clause, which could further complicate matters for this category of people. Finally, the new law specifies that refugees may have an application for citizenship considered if they lawfully reside in Greece and of course Macedonian exiles (especially those who are prevented from returning to their place of birth because of Greece’s discriminatory 1982 laws which only permit the return of individuals that are ethnic Greeks) do not fulfill this requirement.

The AMHRC and MHRMI believe that the spreading of the misinformation is a deliberate attempt to dissuade Macedonians from taking action to restore their citizenship and property rights by giving them a false hope that the matter will soon be resolved by the Greek state. It is regrettable that these reports were naively ‘applauded’ by certain individuals and reported by some media outlets which failed to check their accuracy.

As was announced on 23 April 2010, AMHRC/MHRMI, in cooperation with the Association of the Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia of Melbourne and Victoria, the Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia (ARCAM) in Canada and Macedonian refugee associations in the Republic of Macedonia have decided to launch a campaign for legal action against the Greek state to restore citizenship and property rights to Macedonians from Greece. All these organisations appeal once more to Macedonians from Greece who lost their citizenship to join this important action.

For more information, please click the following links to

AMHRC: http://www.macedonianhr.org.au/04new...klawsuite.html
MHRMI: http://mhrmi.org/news/2010/april23_e.asp

###

Established in 1984 the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) is a non governmental organisation that informs and advocates to governments, international institutions and broader communities about combating discrimination and promoting basic human rights. Our aspiration is to ensure that Macedonian communities and other excluded groups throughout the world are recognised, respected and afforded equitable treatment. For more information please visit www.macedonianhr.org.au, or contact AMHRC at [email protected] or via +61 3 93298960.

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has been active on human and national rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986. For more information, please visit www.mhrmi.org, or contact MHRMI at 416-850-7125, or [email protected].