ATHENS: A Pakistani worker was shot in the head in Greece in a suspected hate crime ahead of a key appeal trial involving the notorious neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn, an anti-racism group said Wednesday.
The Keerfa group said Ali Riaz, 26, had been repeatedly fired at by a passing taxi driver in central Athens on Monday as he and other Muslims were returning from prayers to mark the end of Ramadan.
Doctors later removed a pellet from his left temple, the group said.
"I did not see his face... but he was white," Riaz told state TV ERT.
The incident comes ahead of an appeals trial on June 15 involving dozens of members of the Golden Dawn group, formerly Greece's third most popular party.
In a ruling in October 2020, Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos and nearly 60 other members were found guilty of participation in a criminal organisation.
Crimes attributed to the group included the murder of a Greek anti-racism rapper and the serious beating of an Egyptian fisherman.
Of the 57 people convicted in 2020, 40 were jailed and 35 are still in prison.
Golden Dawn, a xenophobic and anti-Semitic organisation, existed on the fringes of Greek politics until the country's 2010 debt crisis. It capitalised on public anger over immigration and austerity cuts, entering parliament for the first time in 2012 with a total of 18 seats.
Three years later, Golden Dawn emerged as the third most powerful political force in the country.
One of the Golden Dawn cadres jailed in 2020 is former party spokesman, Ilias Kasidiaris. He has formed a new nationalist party that polls at under two percent.
Pakistani shot in Greece in suspected hate crime
https://arab.news/zdk3c
Pakistani shot in Greece in suspected hate crime
- Ali Riaz, 26, was repeatedly fired at by a passing taxi driver in central Athens
- Incident comes ahead of appeals trial involving neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn
Pakistan to send over 10,000 workers to Italy over three years after securing employment quota
- Government says Italy will admit 3,500 workers annually under seasonal and non-seasonal labor schemes
- It calls the deal a 'milestone' as Italy becomes the first European country to allocate job quota for Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has secured a quota of 10,500 jobs from Italy over the next three years, an official statement said on Saturday, opening legal employment pathways for Pakistani workers in Europe under Italy’s seasonal and non-seasonal labor programs.
Under the arrangement, 3,500 Pakistani workers will be employed in Italy each year, including 1,500 seasonal workers hired for time-bound roles, and 2,000 non-seasonal workers for longer-term employment across sectors.
The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development said Italy is the first European country to allocate a dedicated labor quota to Pakistan, describing the move as a milestone in Pakistan’s efforts to expand overseas employment opportunities beyond traditional labor markets in the Middle East.
“After prolonged efforts, doors to employment for the Pakistani workforce in Italy are about to open,” Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain said, calling the quota allocation a “historic milestone.”
The jobs will be available across multiple sectors, including shipbreaking, hospitality, healthcare and agriculture, with opportunities for skilled and semi-skilled workers in professions such as welding, technical trades, food services, housekeeping, nursing, medical technology and farming.
The agreement comes as Pakistan seeks to diversify overseas employment destinations for its workforce and increase remittance inflows, which remain a key source of foreign exchange for the country’s economy.
The ministry said a second meeting of the Pakistan-Italy Joint Working Group on labor cooperation is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in February 2026, where implementation and future cooperation are expected to be discussed.
