Journalistic forays: dis-parity: Albanian Roma in Votanikos, Greece: Orfeos street

At first glance, the Roma settlement of Orfeos street - reachable only via an unpaved, unmarked offshoot of the “main” road – seems out of place even for a neighbourhood as degraded as the greater area of Elaeonas, home to countless shipping companies, fleets of 18-wheel trucks, small unkempt streets, and old, run-down factories. Once inside the settlement, one is at a loss for words. Unwelcoming, filthy, rat-infested, with no sewage system, no electricity and no running water to speak of. No place to be, really. Surely no one would wish to live under such conditions? The settlement’s current inhabitants would readily agree. Trouble is, they have had little choice in the matter. In the five years that they have resided in this lot, beyond the not-so-occasional police raid, the city has largely ignored their presence. Citing the private ownership status of the plot, it has made few, if any, wholehearted attempts at clearing the accumulated trash throughout the years, while local factories have used the area as an illegal and highly convenient dumping ground for all kinds of refuse.