Disabled and chronically-ill people from around Greece protested in central Athens on Friday against additional austerity measures announced by the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The measures are required in exchange for new bailout loan payouts and talks on debt relief measures
Hundreds of protesters poured into the streets in wheelchairs carrying black balloons, while deaf demonstrators wore white gloves and joined anti-government chants through sign language.
“Tax the rich, our needs are above their profits” and “No more cuts!” were the slogans chanted by demonstrators who make up one of the sectors most affected and vulnerable to the economic crisis that has hobbled the European nation for more than six years.
The National Confederation of Disabled People of Greece has said that unemployment among people with disabilities was more than double the national jobless rate of 23 percent, with poverty levels also sharply higher.
“We want to live in dignity,” Yannis Vardakastanis, head of the National Confederation of Disabled People of Greece who is blind, said to an AP journalist. “It’s the obligation of the government and European institutions to stop us from being further isolated, impoverished and discriminated against.”
