An unsolved health and social crisis unfolds daily on Ierotheou Street, in Athensin the shadow of Omonia and Metaxourgio, with the neighborhood turned into a plate drug.
Illegal drug trafficking and use has trapped the inhabitants of this degraded area in Athens in status and let dozens of dependent people fight in full abandonment.
The Orange Press Agency was on the spot, recording images and testimonies that make up the despair puzzle. On one side, theI residents and shopkeepers describe a daily horror. On the other hand, the shots capture the human drama of addictspeople who experience total poverty without access to roof or state care.
‘They’re not to blame, but we can’t stand it anymore’
“We put barbed wire to protect ourselves, as if it’s a prison. There is a lot of people coming up »says Yiannis Gritakis, a cafe owner at the entrance to the “Piazza”. “We can’t stand five years now. Do something, leave here. The kids are not to blame, to get them somewhere to have help. But not here, we are destroyed. “
Mr. Gentai, who lives with his family on the street, describes the fear: “My wife comes out to go for the child in the park and the child is crying, she’s scared. What to calm down? “.
It is also the owner of apartments in the area. “We can’t sleep. They take their doses, make their needs, take off their clothes … and our kids go crazy. I was put on fire at home. 19 thousand water came my account from leaks that caused, ”he notes.
In addition to fear, residents’ discussions are dominated by suspicion. There are many who, speaking to Orange Press Agency on the condition of anonymity, link the degradation of Hierotheos Street with deliberate financial interests aimed at depreciating land. This perception captures a neighborhood that feels a pawn on a larger chessboard, abandoned by both the state and the market.
Why are there ‘plates?’
On the part of the organizations working in the field, the solution does not focus on police repression, but in a public health framework. Concentration of users in “plates” is often an informal protection mechanism from attacks, away from a system they face with mistrust.
Shocking images of poverty, such as meeting biological needs on the road, are the top of the iceberg of abandonment, as for people living on the street there is no access to toilets or safe accommodation. Therefore, the central request of experts It focuses on the creation of supervised use, medical surveillance spaces that offer safety, hygiene and disintegrate neighborhoods.
Deputy Mayor of Athens: “The Municipality alone cannot”
On his part, the Thomas GeorgiadisDeputy Mayor of the Municipality of Athens, speaking to Orange Press, was on the side of the residents. “The inhabitants of this area are absolutely right. It is a very large area that is suffering, “he said.
As he explained, the municipality has addressed the relevant Ministries of Health and Public Order, but has not found the expected response. “We have indicated spaces and processes. The municipality alone cannot afford all this recovery. If we do not help by the government as a whole, unfortunately we cannot go to the next step, “he concluded.