Chams askw for Greek apology, reparations

TIRANA, June 28 – The Cham community held a ceremony in Qafe Bota in the southernmost district of Saranda to commemorate the victims of their deportation from their ancestral through Greek military campaigns during and shortly after World War II. The ceremony was also led by two lawmakers who have created the Cham-focused Party for Justice and Unity. Dashamir Tahiri, one of the lawmakers, said that next year they will hold the ceremony in the Greek city of Igumenitsa, adding that next year the visa-free regime will be in force and there will be no one stopping them to hold the event in a democratic state. The Cham community wants reparations for their properties confiscated after the people were deported. Albanian Chams have for years demanded that Greece pay compensation for property they lost, while official Greece says the issue should be put behind as Greeks had done with demands for reparations caused by Nazi atrocities during World War II.
They also asked for an apology from Greece for the atrocities Chams suffered during the deportations