“Massive cuts in public sector’s employment and a failure to tackle the fundamental social needs arising from the crisis have fueled a sharp rise in unemployment, it also exacerbated pre-existing inequalities, with vulnerable categories paying the highest toll for a reduced access to work and worsening working conditions,” the FIDH said in a statement accompanying the report.
FIDH president Karim Lahidji said the Greek government has “sacrificed nearly everything” to satisfy lenders and improve the country’s floundering economy. “While we accept that exceptional circumstances can require exceptional responses, the way policies were adopted and implemented in this context clearly failed to respect international standards,” Lahidji stated.
According to the FIDH, poor and working class Greeks have been the most adversely affected by austerity, while inequality has skyrocketed. “The minimum wage was cut after February 2012 (when the second bailout was being negotiated) by 22% for all workers aged over 25 and 32% for under 25, while reforms aimed at making the labor market more ‘flexible’ significantly reduced protection for workers’ rights,” the FIDH stated.
The human rights group continued by arguing austerity economics “undermined” Greek political rights by excluding the population from the decision making process.
The FIDH isn’t the first human rights group to slam austerity. In late 2013 Oxfam issued its own damning report warning that as many as 25 million more people could fall into poverty across Europe by 2025 if austerity isn’t reversed.
While the FIDH report laid most of the blame on the Greek government, it also argued the European Union and International Monetary Fund violated their “obligations under international law” while negotiating “draconian” bailout deals.
The report was published by the FIDH (a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations founded in 1922) and its Greek affiliate, the Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR).
Source: FIDH
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