Harsh winter piles misery on homeless Greeks
Baku, January 9 (AZERTAC). On Tuesday, temperatures fell to five degrees Celsius in the capital Athens and dropped to minus 13 in the northern parts of the European country.
The cold snap is particularly threatening Greece`s homeless population, which has grown up to 30 percent since the economic crisis began in the country in 2009.
There are now 20,000 homeless people in Greece, including almost 10,000 in the capital alone.
About sixty percent of the homeless people attribute their troubles to the ongoing economic crisis.
The Greek authorities say they have made appropriate arrangements to deal with the current cold snap, which is forecasted to last until at least Thursday.
"It is a difficult task because Athens is a big chaotic city where in every corner there could be a homeless person, and they are difficult to find. We need everyone`s support to find these people and help them as much as is possible," said George Apostolopoulos, director of homeless projects for the city of Athens.
“The number of these people has increased. I would not say it is at the point of a full humanitarian disaster, but without a doubt the situation is much more severe than before,” he added.
Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its fifth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left about half a million people without jobs.
One in every five Greek workers is currently unemployed, banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been slashed by up to 40 percent.
Greek youths have also been badly affected, and more than half of them are unemployed.
The long-drawn-out eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and reached Italy, Spain, and France in 2011, is viewed as a threat not only to Europe but also to many of the world`s other developed economies.
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