In order to protect vulnerable citizens and ensure public order, the Municipality of Kifissia is making a clear appeal to residents and visitors of the city not to offer money to people asking for handouts on the street.

More specifically, as the Municipal Authority points out, offering money to beggars, no matter how well-intentioned, often does not offer any substantial help, as it sustains phenomena of exploitation and criminal networks behind begging.

Until 2018, begging was treated by the Criminal Code as a criminal offence. With the repeal of the relevant provision, the phenomenon began to run rampant on the streets of cities.

The lack of institutional provision left exposed not only the citizens who are often confronted with oppressive or organized forms of begging, but also the very people who are pushed into this situation, without any protection or possibility of effective social care.

The repeal of the provision, which was intended to modernize the legal framework, in practice deprived the State of an intervention tool. The result is that daily life is burdened and our most vulnerable citizens remain exposed to schemes that exploit their weakness.

In Kifissia, only in the last year tens of controls and arrests of beggars were carried out, following interventions by the municipal authority. However, after the relevant checks by the Greek Police, the same people return to the same places and continue their activity, which proves the gaps in the current framework.

For this reason, the Municipal Authority will submit a resolution to the Municipal Council asking for the re-examination of the legal framework. The Mayor of Kifissia has already contacted the President of the KEDE, in order to seek the adoption of a corresponding resolution at the national level.

The aim is to create a new institutional framework that will effectively shield society, protect citizens and, at the same time, open up essential avenues of social support for those in despair.

The Municipality of Kifissia will continue to consistently support the most vulnerable members of our society through its social structures and actions, insisting that solidarity must be expressed in ways that respect and protect people.

In a statement, the Mayor of Kifissia, Vassilis Xypolytas, stresses:

“I am well aware that many of our fellow citizens, out of good intentions and with a willingness to offer, rush to give money to a person who approaches them on the street. However, I want to state clearly that this does not really help those in need.

Instead, it leaves them vulnerable to cycles that exploit them and deprives them of the opportunity to find support through organised structures.
Solidarity is not measured on the street with a few coins. It is measured by giving every fellow human being the chance to get back on their feet.

As a municipality, we have a responsibility to show that solidarity is not just a charity of the moment, but a conscious act of caring. Kifissia wants to be a city that does not turn a blind eye to hardship, but opens up paths of dignity and meaningful help for everyone.”