A solution to some of Greece's problems

[Aimless]

Shut down operation Xenios Zeus, fire 10% of all policemen and keep them locked up so they don't cause any trouble.

Whatcha reckon, too extreme? Too much work for too little gain? I reckon every little bit helps.

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/09/x...ek-hospitality

[wiggin]

Just playing devil's advocate (this certainly seems like overreach), but catching 6% seems far higher than what you'd get without a profiling approach. Deporting 5k illegals is not a bad haul in such a relatively small country.

[Aimless]

Well, the greek govt. apparently estimates the total number of illegal immigrants in Greece to be around 1 million so it's a tiny portion of the total as well as a fairly small portion of all those who get caught in the net (what, like 80k detained or something?).

The gain from deporting illegal immigrants must be balanced against the cost of disrupting businesses that rely on migrant workers, the cost of possibly alienating tourists who as a group account for 15% of Greece's GDP (although granted most of that 15% comes from horny white Brits and Swedes), and the cost of the operation itself.

The average illegal migrant isn't likely to be benefiting all that much from Greece's pension system or from its healthcare system, and, though they may cause harm simply by virtue of being illegal, I don't know if the cost-benefit analysis really ends up in favour of Xenios Zeus. That's putting aside any issues of human rights and common decency of course. I just feel like Greek cops and politicians are being dicks

[wiggin]

I'm not arguing this is a good policy, just that the profiling probably did work. It's as if a new American policy was able to add 50k deportations to their annual haul of about 350k. That's pretty substantial.

[Loki]

Have you not seen what happens in Greece when the government fires 5 government workers? Firing 10% of the police force would lead to an all-out riot.

[Aimless]

Good, that would keep the remaining 90% occupied and gainfully employed while also terrifying all illegal immigrants, it's win-win

God what a messed up country. I was very keen on going there for our honeymoon but we were too scared. For good reason, it seems

[Timbuk2]

God what a messed up country. I was very keen on going there for our honeymoon but we were too scared. For good reason, it seems

Scared of what exactly?

It's a beautiful country. I go most years.

C'mon Minxy, I expected more of you.

[Aimless]

I live in constant fear of being hassled for my appearance and my name I actually spoke to some acquaintances recently who're also from my part of the world and they confirmed that they'd been hassled just a little too often for their comfort. I figure I'll wait till the country settles down a little and yes it does seem to be a beautiful country with great food so sad