Discrimination against persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities is one of the largest barriers to the effective and full participation in economic life. The intersectional discrimination against persons belonging to minorities burden additional barriers and contribute to even further rnarginalization exclusion of minorities in all aspects of life. Though there are a large number of international, regional and domestic laws and policies adopted by Governments to address discrimination and the inequalities experienced by persons belonging to national or ethnic, re ligious and linguistic minorities, there is still discrimination and inequality in participation of these minorities in economic life. The Greek Ombudsman, which is entrusted with combating racism and racial discrimination in the public and private sectors in Greece, monitors the implementation of the anti-discrimination law (Law 3304/2005), including the public sector; local and regional authorities; other public bodies, private law corporate entities, enterprises and organizations which are controlled by the state, or by public law entities. However, The Ombudsman cannot intervene if more than six months have elapsed from the time the complainant initially learned of the public administration's illegal action, or failure to act. Under Law 3304/2005(Art. 19) Greece established the Labour Inspectorate to ensure equal treatment in employment. The Labour Inspectorate has informed ECRI that all bodies are required to provide it with the necessary assistance. It has indicated that it has received no complaints of racial discrimination, though NGOs reported ECRI the existence of discrimination in economic life. The former UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Ms. Gay McDougall, stated in her report following her visit to Greece in September 2008 stated that women belonging to the Turkish Minority experience severe inequalities in access to education and consequent disproportionately high levels of illiteracy and unemployment. Most of minority women do not speak Greek, and therefore there are described as being confined to their homes and villages with few opportunities for employment or social interaction. Surveys which were thade in different villages in Rhodope and Xanthi have proved that the minority women in Western Thrace cannot fully participate in economic life of the country due to the low level of education. According the surveys, 45% of the women who are between 21-30 ages and 38.9% of the women between 31 and 40 ages are house wives, and most of them are workers in their own small farmyard. In the situation of deep economic crisis, unemployment rate in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, where the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace reside increased to 20.7 % in the sec ond quarter of 2011, which recorded one of the highest unemployment rate in the country, while the unemployment rate in the country is 16.3%. In the period of deep economic crisis, economic conditions of the persons, including women belonging to the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace have deteriorated, and the unequal distribution of resources and services prevents the persons be longing to this minority from enjoying their economic and social rights. In order to redress the imbalances in the representation and participation of the Minority in economic life, Greece introduced a 0.5 % quota under Law 3647/2008 for persons belonging to the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in the civil service where there is high level of unemployment. Though, this special measure has, thus far, not been implemented in Greece. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRlys 4th Monitoring Cycle Report on Greece in 2009 highlighted that a comprehensive long-term programme has not yet been established by the authorities to improve the integration of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace into the labour market, and it noted that reports indicate that the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace continue to be under-represented in the public sector and state-owned corporations. We strongly support the recommendation that Governments should ensure that minority women realize their economic rights by developing policies geared to build their capacity and create new employment 2