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Sunday, May. 20, 2012 |  Syndicate content

Greece disability list sparks welfare benefits row

Page last updated at 05:11 GMT, Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 10:11 EST

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BBC:

A rally by disabled people in Athens drew attention to their plight last month
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A Greek government plan to categorise paedophiles and pyromaniacs as "disabled" has alarmed disability groups, who fear it could undermine their state benefits.

The new code could be used "to cut the number of disabled people with a right to disability benefits", the groups' national leader, Yannis Vardakastanis, told BBC News.

Indebted Greece is slashing state aid.

Disabled Greeks rallied in December, demanding job and benefit protection.

Mr Vardakastanis, head of the National Confederation of Disabled People, said the new code would simplify the definition of disability, limiting it to medical conditions.

"Disability is if society doesn't give you what you need to be like others. We want the Greek government to really protect vulnerable groups from getting deeper into poverty, exclusion and discrimination."

Read the whole story: BBC

Greece-World News