The Hellenic Police’s intervention this morning had unlicensed side-street vendors scurrying to gather their wares. The operation, codenamed Thiseas, aims to go to all areas in the wider region of Thisseion, the Acropolis, Votanikos, Kerameikos and Petralona in order to clamp down on crime, unlicensed trade, illegal immigration, drug selling and other criminal activities.

The street vendors whose makeshift shops are comprised of bed sheets strewn with items for sale say that they will react to the clampdown with a protest rally outside the Municipality of Athens. They claim that it isn’t their fault that they are without a license and are seeking the direct intervention of the state so that they can stop playing “hide-and-seek” with the authorities, according to their vice-president Michael Manimanis.

The illegal sellers’ primary areas of operation have been outside the stations of Thisseion and Asomaton Square. They claim that they are distraught as to what the next day will bring and live under constant stress.

A portion of the street vendors have families to take care of and turned to this illegal activity because they had no other choice. A classic case is that of Mr. Tzanis who has been a street vendor in the pedestrian zone outside Thisseion station over the last 20 years. He tells protothema.gr that the police clampdown deprives him of a living as he has no other viable option to make money.

Mr. Tzanis is just one survivor of a once-thriving community selling cut-price merchandise to cash-stripped Greek consumers.

This type of intervention was first-launched in mid-2012 in a controversial move by liberal Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who wanted to decrease tax evasion and also address illegal immigration. At the time Xenios Zeus had been rendered “a huge success” by the citizen’s protection minister Nikos Dendias, however the project has attracted criticism from both Greek and international human rights organizations that believe that the harsh treatment of the mainly immigrant sellers is in violation of international law.