Athens - Despite promises by Greek authorities to compensate Roma, or gypsy, families evicted from their homes to make way for Olympic venues, the issue has been largely left by the wayside since the start of the Games while living conditions for the families have improved little.
"Although non-gypsies were also evicted because of Olympic construction, the gypsies were much more affected because they have little access to the administration," said Dimitris Levantis, head of the Greek chapter of SOS Racism.
He said while the authorities made some effort to improve the situation following an outcry by human rights groups in the run-up to the Games, not enough has been done.
Costas Papayannou, of Amnesty International in Greece, said the worst hit are 37 families expelled from their homes near the Olympic stadium and promised subsidies to help them rent new accommodation.
"Following delays in the Olympic preparations, heavy pressure was applied in 2001 to immediately evict them and since then their living conditions have gotten worse," Papayannou said.
Among the 140 Roma forced to leave their homes was Prokopis Nikolaou, who has a wife and three children.
Following a deal with local authorities, he was promised nearly 800 euros a month in compensation but the money has been slow in coming.
"There are always delays," said Nikolaou, who now rents a small flat about 10 kilometres from the stadium. "Beginning August, I finally was given the subsidies for the last four months but there are some families who have gotten nothing."
Thodoris Alexandridis, of the Greek Helsinki Monitor, said the delays were proof of the uphill battle facing the gypsy community and the discrimination they face.
He and others said despite pledges by Greek authorities in the last 10 years to improve conditions, there was little tangible evidence that much has been done.
One glaring example is in the Athens suburb of Aspropyrgos, where the local mayor ordered that a cluster of Roma huts be cleared in 2001 in order to make way for Olympic housing.
More than 100 people affected by the decision have since been living in unsanitary conditions, with no running water or electricity.
In Spata, another Athens suburb, 22 Roma families were forced to move into prefabricated homes with no power or running water.
A state mediator only intervened in 2003 to ensure that the children living there be taken by bus to the local school located seven kilometres away.
According to the Greek Helsinki Monitor and a recent report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the gypsy minority in Greece still suffers discrimination largely because of a lack of political will.
According to official figures, Greece's Roma community numbers about 300 000.
