Human Rights Legal Project

JOINT STATEMENT AGAINST THE UNLAWFUL SUSPENSION OF ACCESS TO ASYLUM IN GREECE Together with 71 Civil Society organizations, HRLP signed a joint statement calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Greek parliament's decision to unlawfully suspend access to asylum in Greece.ENA...

✊Together with 71 Civil Society organizations, HRLP signed a joint statement calling for the immediate withdrawal of the #Greekparliament's decision to unlawfully suspend access to #asylum in #Greece.

Read full statement, EN & GR:
www.humanrightslp.eu/post/joint-s...

Following our latest request for interim measures to the ECHR on behalf of 45 Applicants, the UACs are finally being relocated from the Samos CCAC.

A powerful reminder that applying pressure & seeking accountability fosters change✊

Over the past months, HRLP has been making repeated interventions in order to apply pressure on the Greek government to address the horrific living conditions at the #Samos CCAC and take urgent measures to ensure the health & safety of all UACs residing in the #SafeZone.

🚨 SAMOS CCAC SAFE ZONE IS BEING EVACUATED

Following the consistent efforts of local Civil Society actors and those who stood in solidarity, the #SamosCCAC’s Safe Zone for unaccompanied children (UACs) is finally being evacuated.

The report credits HRLP for monitoring violations of fair trial principles on #Samos, as well as establishing an important legal precedent towards the protection of refugees against prosecution for unauthorised entry in a country.

Read the full report:
borderviolence.eu/uploads/docu...

In #Greece, the criminalisation of people on the move under #smuggling charges remains a consistent trend, resulting in the ongoing erosion of the rule of law as due process and the fundamental rights of displaced people are systematically violated.

📄HRLP features in @borderviolence.bsky.social 's Annual Criminalization Report

Through elaborate analyses, the report demonstrates how the #criminalization of migration has become a systematic practice legitimized across the EU, institutionalizing border violence & eroding human rights.

Unaccompanied Children Sleep on the Floor in Shifts in Greece’s 'Model Camps'. The EU Is Aware. Internal EU documents obtained through freedom of information requests and visual evidence from rights organizations on the ground, reveal systemic neglect of hundreds of unaccompanied children trappe...

HRLP features in Solomon's new research on the horrific living conditions in Greece's refugee camps, subjecting hundreds of unaccompanied minors to severe risk.
wearesolomon.com/mag/focus-ar...

🔍With the support of HRLP, Simone had the opportunity to gain first-hand insight into the reality on the ground, while exploring the #narratives that shape how we perceive migration, within the context of European & Greek law.

🎓Over the past two months, Simone, a graduate student at
@uvahumanities.bsky.social has been conducting fieldwork for her Master's thesis on the island of #Samos, researching the #criminalization of migrant boat drivers in Greece.

✊We condemn the Facilitation Directive because we demand that Europe upholds its obligations to provide #asylum & safe refuge to vulnerable, displaced people.

🌍Because we envision a world where all people on the move have access to safe & dignified pathways of migration.

The infamous #FacilitatorsPackage contributes to the erosion of the right to seek asylum and the #criminalisation of human movement.

It feeds into right-wing fear mongering around #migration and promotes a criminal law response to a social phenomenon.

✍️Together with 112 European civil society organizations, HRLP signed a joint statement condemning the #EU's #FacilitationDirective for its failure to protect migrants and calling for the rejection of the #Europol Regulation.

#migrationisnotacrime

📢SUCCESS STORY

Today, HRLP lawyers defended a Syrian asylum seeker facing up to 160 years in prison for the illegal transfer of 16 asylum seekers, before the Syros First Instance Court.

Due to reasonable doubt for his guilt, the Court declared the defendant innocent!

Leaked recordings challenge Greek account of deadly shipwreck Hundreds are thought to have died when the Adriana sank in international waters two years ago.

HRLP lawyer, Dimitris Choulis, features in BBC's new article on the #Pylos9 shipwreck, which challenges Greek authorities' official version of events.

Read the full article:
www.bbc.com/news/article...

38 unaccompanied minors residing at the #Samos #CCAC's Safe Zone report to HRLP⬇️

The Safe Zone's deplorable living conditions, continue to violate the rights and pose grave risks to the health, safety & dignity of the 300+ children who currently live in the camp.

NGOs have been documenting human rights violations since the camp opened in 2021. Despite recommendations by the CPT, human rights bodies and NGOs, 3 years later nothing has been done. It’s high time that changes. Share this thread and tag @marcusbrunn.bsky.social if you agree.

People seeking asylum detained in EU-funded “pilot” refugee camp on Samos A “dystopian nightmare” exists for asylum seekers on Samos, Greece: a highly securitized camp lacking in the most basic facilities.

We know because we’ve seen it. As residents of this EU-funded facility continue to be exposed to unlawful detention and inadequate living conditions, we are concerned that Greece may be a blueprint for the implementation of the new EU Migration Pact across the region.
www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ca...

People in #Samos are prevented from leaving the centre for up to 25 days after arrival. Many sleep on cardboard without blankets in overcrowded spaces. There isn't always running water and it’s rarely hot. Diseases are spreading but there is limited access to medical care.

Time and time again, NGOs have condemned the dreadful state of the EU-funded Samos CCAC. To this day, nothing has changed. So HRLP, @amnestyeu.bsky.social and 3 other NGOs wrote to the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs @magnusbrunner.bsky.social to take action.
www.humanrightslp.eu/post/letter-...

Specifically, the Court recognized that delays in administrative processes do not justify the prolonged detention of the applicant beyond the established maximum of 25 days, hence declaring the measure unlawful.

In a groundbreaking decision, the First Instance Administrative Court of Syros accepted HRLP's objection, acknowledging -for the first time ever- that the UAM's restriction of movement and deprivation of liberty amounts to de-facto detention.

🎖️SUCCESS STORY - GROUNDBREAKING DECISION

On Tuesday the 18th of February, HRLP filed objections against the unlawful detention of an unaccompanied minor (UAM) who has been kept at the Samos CCAC's Safe Zone for 64 days.

The hearings in question serve as a powerful opportunity to challenge the systematic scapegoating and criminalization of people on the move in Greece.

An opportunity to empower asylum seekers to exercise their fundamental rights.

An opportunity to fight for justice✊

⚖️NOTICE: "Smuggling" cases, First Instance Court of Samos

On the 17th of February, HRLP lawyers Dimitris Choulis and Ioanna Begiazi will be representing three defendants accused of illegal entry and transfer of third-country nationals in Greece.

Κολαστήριο το ΚΕΔ Σάμου για 485 προσφυγόπουλα Τα ανήλικα κρατούνται υπό άθλιες συνθήκες στη Safe Zone της Δομής, η οποία είναι δυναμικότητας 200 παιδιών

✍️HRLP reports to efsyn.gr about the unacceptable living conditions witnessed at the Samos CCAC's "safe" zone where unaccompanied minors reside.
www.efsyn.gr/ellada/dikai...

Smugglers or scapegoats? | Heinrich Böll Stiftung - Thessaloniki Office Could the creation of legal and safe pathways for people on the move be the answer to migrant smuggling and subsequently the criminalisation of migration? Who profits from the lack of them? Lydia Emma...

🎙️HRLP lawyer Ioanna Begiazi shares her insight on the criminalization of migration in @boell.de's podcast, recorded within the framework of the congress "Shipwrecked - Rethinking migration and asylum in Europe".

Listen to the full episode:
gr.boell.org/en/media/aud...

HRLP is a legal aid organisation based in Samos, striving to ensure that people on the move in Greece are treated with fairness & dignity.

Through our work, we seek accountability for state criminality at EU's borders & commit to defend the rights of displaced people.

✊Join our fight for justice!