WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2007 – On World Refugee Day, the United Macedonian Diaspora commemorates the plight and mass exodus of thousands of Macedonian children deca begalci during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949).  The United Macedonian Diaspora calls upon Greece to recognize the inhumane treatment of these Macedonians since 1946 and to repeal the law enacted in 1982 designed to repatriate only “Greeks by genus” and the law enacted in 1985 designed to return confiscated properties only to “Greeks by genus.” 

Over the years, since the annexation of Aegean Macedonia by Greece under the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, those Macedonians in Greece who spoke out against their persecution have been exiled, imprisoned, harassed, neglected, ignored, silenced, discriminated against and have had their properties confiscated; all done either by or with the acquiescence of the Greek Government. 

During the Greek Civil War, thousands of Macedonian children between the ages of 2 and 14 were put on trains and sent off to Skopje, Belgrade, Budapest, Prague, Bucharest, and even to places further away like Moscow, Warsaw, and Tashkent.  These same children, now adults in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, scattered around the world, are denied the right to return to their homes in Greece and denied compensation for property wrongfully taken from them and their families. 

In 1982 and 1985, Greece’s parliament enacted laws designed to repatriate and return confiscated properties belonging to “Greeks by genus” who had left Greece during the Greek Civil War. In both laws, Macedonians were excluded. 

The passage of these laws was simply a part of the Greek Government’s systematic denial of the most basic human rights to its numerous ethnic minorities as part of its on-going, specious attempt to claim that Greece is an ethnically homogenous nation.  Macedonians in Greece are not allowed such core liberties as (1) simply identifying themselves as Macedonian and being able to hold Macedonian names, (2) speaking or studying their own language, (3) expressing their religious affiliation and worshiping God in their language, (4) sharing their culture with their fellow citizens, (5) establishing community, cultural, and political associations, and (6) petitioning the Greek government for the redress of their grievances and injuries.

The United Macedonian Diaspora calls upon Greece to repeal these laws, afford the Macedonian refugees of the Greek Civil War the right to repatriation and the right to, and restitution of, or for, their confiscated, occupied, and damaged property and resources – the very same rights currently limited only to “Greeks by genus.”  The United Macedonian Diaspora also calls upon the Greek Government to reverse its systematic denial of basic human rights to all ethnic and religious minorities within Greece.

Founded in 2004, United Macedonian Diaspora is an international membership organization addressing the interests and needs of Macedonians and Macedonian communities throughout the world.  

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