ギリシアの食料危機 ー 飢餓の恐れ
ギリシアの経済状況が悲惨なものであることは、よく知られている。相次ぐ増税、リストラ、賃下げ、福祉カットにより、国民の生活状況の悪化は、ついには食べるものがない、買えない状況に達しているというニュースである。
ギリシア財政の破綻はトロイカにベイルアウトを要請することになり、その条件としてトロイカは超緊縮財政を課している。いま、公務員の大リストラが遂行されようとしており、社会的緊張は高まる一方である。
こうしたなか、ギリシア市民の現状が紹介されている。一番の問題は、ミドル・クラスが上記の苦境に陥っているという点である。２８％もの失業率の中で職が見つからないなか、ついには食べるものにことかいて、慈善団体の組織する食事を求める人々がこうしたクラスにも出現している。慈善団体自身がその激増ぶりに困っているという事態に陥っている。政府は何もしない。そうした経費をカットしている。
慈善活動をしているのは、教会、そして左派のシリザ党、そして右派の黄金の夜明けである。ただし黄金の夜明けは、「ギリシア人のみ」に食事を提供している。社会混乱に政治混乱が加わり、ギリシアの夏は絶望的な暑さを迎えている・・・。そうしたニュースである。
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Greece's food crisis: families face going hungry during summer shutdown
Frontline charities report that up to 90% of families in the poorest neighbourhoods rely on food banks and soup kitchens. But, with no end to austerity in sight, even the volunteers are flagging
Helena Smith in Athens
The Guardian, Tuesday 6 August 2013 14.42 BST
Constantinos Polychronopoulos ladels out food at a soup kitchen in Athens, Unicef estimates that nearly 600,000 children now live under the poverty line in Greece. Photograph: John Kolesidis/Reuters
Hunger is not a word that comes easily to Antonis Antakis. And at 28 Veikou Street, in the cramped confines of the Solidarity Club, it is not a word that is ever mentioned. But the fear of not having enough to eat is the force that propels those who stop here – and what keeps the tireless volunteers stacking rice, pasta and other dry goods that Greeks like Antakis take home.
"The truth is, if I didn't come here I wouldn't have the means to feed my children," said the recently widowed father-of-three, his eyes fixed on the floor. "Three years ago, when I was the boss and had two employees, the idea of going anywhere to collect food would have been inconceivable. Back then, I was earning €3,000 (£2,600) a month and the fridge was always full."
The task of ensuring that families like Antakis's are fed throughout the summer became more stark at the weekend as Greeks prepared to take their traditional summer break, affecting the provision of basic services like food distribution to the poor.
Ordinarily, the prospect of the Orthodox church – or any other charitable organisation – scaling back duties in August would have gone unnoticed. But in debt-stricken Greece it is impossible to ignore. Against a backdrop of record unemployment, and with the country ensnared in its worst crisis in modern times, hardship is surfacing in ways that few would ever have foreseen. Hunger and undernourishment are part of that spectre.
For Antakis and the growing number dependent on soup kitchens, who will now be bereft of outside support, August has become the cruellest month.
"I really worry that one day I won't be able to feed my kids at all," lamented the 39-year-old former floor layer turned taxi driver. "From being the boss, I am now lucky if I earn €500 a month. You can't live on that and pay the bills and all your debts and every tax they throw at you, and still survive."
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