Members of the Aegean NGO Network urgently call on the EU institutions, policy makers and experts to recognise the suppression of civil society space, including restrictions on (legal) support and monitoring of the treatment of people on the move at the borders, as a serious threat to the rule of law. Greek authorities should ensure that bills protect, not criminalise, humanitarian support and that they align with EU and international laws and standards.
The Aegean NGO Network is a coalition of 11 independent organisations present on the Greek islands, some of whom contribute anonymously due to the challenging environment for civil society. The Aegean NGO Network is supported by Oxfam Novib.
The Greek Parliament has passed a new ‘legal migration’ law that introduces extreme and disproportionate penalties for anyone accused of ‘aiding’ undocumented migrants. Under this law, members of registered NGOs now face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 50,000 euros, penalties that are three to four times harsher than those applied to others for the same vaguely defined offences.
Greek authorities have consistently accused NGOs of aiding “illegal migration” without any proven evidence. Twenty-four aid workers on Lesvos were recently acquitted after a seven-year legal battle for providing life-saving support.3 In 2022, four foreign volunteers were sentenced to one year in prison (suspended) and a 5,000 euro fine for offering food and transporting people to healthcare.4 In 2020, 33 NGO staff, including those from an Aegean NGO Network partner, faced unsubstantiated allegations and criminal investigation for involvement in smuggling.
Recent events underscore the potential dangers of this bill. Some examples: just this month, 15 people died in a collision involving the Greek coast guard.6 A survivor of the Chios shipwreck has been scapegoated and charged with causing the tragedy. His defence lawyer and the NGO supporting him (an Aegean NGO Network member), faced public intimidation from the Minister of Migration and Asylum, who compared the legal defence of the alleged boat driver to that of a ‘rapist’.
When an international NGO offered medical and psychological services at Chios hospital after the shipwreck, the Minister of Health accused its members of attempting to coerce survivors into filing complaints against the coast guard and shaping “asylum narratives”. Linking these actions to serving “foreign interests” that threaten Greece and its border security.
Such threats have left organisations and their staff at Greece’s borders, who provide critical services amid persistent gaps in state support, afraid to continue their work. NGOs have been essential in documenting ongoing rights violations, but this new law will further undermine their ability to monitor and ensure accountability.
Despite persistent warnings from civil society, expert analyses, and overwhelming evidence of systemic obstruction and criminalisation, the European Commission has not taken substantive action beyond an annual note in the Rule of Law Report.