While several European countries are actively coordinating the evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza, Greece continues to abstain from any meaningful effort. There is no clear guidance to candidates for evacuation – effectively abandoning those it had previously recognised as refugees.

I Have Rights is aware of at least two brothers with Greek refugee status that have been prevented from leaving the Gaza strip. Their continuous attempts at contact with the competent Greek authorities to coordinate their evacuation have gone unanswered as the situation continues to deteriorate. In their evacuation request, they have included a letter from the Greek Ombudsperson addressed to the General Consulate in Jerusalem, highlighting their urgent need for evacuation.

Despite these appeals, efforts by civil society to obtain information from the Greek consulate in Jerusalem and the embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv as well as the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs have gone unanswered.

Evacuations are possible – But Greece fails to act

Israel illegally occupies Gaza, and exit from the territory is entirely controlled by the Israeli state. It is first and foremost Israel’s responsibility to immediately end its assault, occupation, and blockade. Yet as long as Israel continues to impose these grave violations of international law, other states have a duty of solidarity and protection: when people are trapped in life-threatening conditions, governments must step in to prevent further harm.

Greece has already shown that it can do so. In 2023, following the escalation of Israeli attacks on Gaza, the Greek government facilitated the evacuation of its own citizens from Gaza. This proves that international cooperation mechanisms can be used effectively, and that there is no legal or practical barrier to extending the same protection to others.

And yet Greece refuses to act for those it has already recognised as refugees. Palestinians who hold refugee status in Greece remain abandoned in Gaza, even as their lives are endangered. Families of recognised refugees in Greece—entitled under law to family reunification—are also excluded from evacuation efforts.

Other European countries, by contrast, have taken steps to make evacuations possible.

States such as Belgium and the Netherlands have established procedures to support evacuations and family reunification requests for Palestinians. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism currently facilitates limited evacuations of medical patients, but the European Commission emphasizes that evacuations depend on the initiative of Member States to select patients. This shows clearly: when governments take initiative, evacuation is possible. When they do not, lives are lost.

In practice, the evacuations are primarily for children and yet face additional obstruction by the Israeli authorities. Meanwhile Palestinians in Gaza endure continuous forcible displacement while the Israeli occupying forces deny entry of humanitarian aid. Any attempts at the collective, forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza is a breach of international criminal and humanitarian law and they must be held accountable. Half a million people have reached phase 5 ‘catastrophic’ food insecurity – a level marked by starvation, destitution and death. In such circumstances, every individual is at risk of a medical emergency at any moment.

Against this backdrop, Greece’s refusal to protect recognised refugees and their families stands out as a grave failure. In the absence of clear Greek leadership and coordination, evacuation to Greece is improbable and effectively obstructed. Relying on the goodwill of the EU and other European states to fill this vacuum will only result in further delays, placing people in even greater danger.

Recognising Persecution: France Acts, Greece Retreats

As of 18 August 2025, the Greek Asylum Service will no longer recognise Palestinians as refugees based on their files. Instead, they will be required to undergo individual interviews to determine their asylum claims.

This decision stands in contrast to a landmark ruling in France, where the National Asylum Court (CNDA) granted refugee status to a Palestinian mother and her son who fled Gaza. The Court held that, upon return, they would face a well-founded fear of persecution by Israeli forces on account of their nationality. Crucially, the Court did not limit its reasoning to the extreme humanitarian situation in Gaza or to arbitrary violence as a basis for subsidiary protection. Instead, it directly linked the persecution faced by Palestinians to protected grounds under the Refugee Convention: nationality and imputed political opinion. This allowed the granting of full refugee status, even to individuals outside the UNRWA mandate.

While the French Court’s reasoning implicitly recognises the genocidal character of Israel’s actions in Gaza, Greece has chosen the opposite course—tightening procedures and complicating recognition for Palestinians, rather than ensuring swift and effective access to refugee protection.

  • Greece and other EU Member States must hold the Israeli government accountable for the unlawful starvation, forced displacement and killings of Palestinians.
  • We urge the Greek state to align with the CNDA ruling and ensure that Palestinian are granted prima facie access to international protection.
  • As the responsible state, Greek authorities must coordinate the evacuation of Palestinians with Greek recognised refugee status or awaiting status from Gaza.
  • The EU and its Member States must establish and expand coordinated evacuation schemes to ensure that all applicants for international protection are swiftly and safely evacuated from Gaza.
  • The EU Member States must ensure the full and effective exercise of the right to family reunification for Palestinians with recognised refugee status. This includes facilitating the safe evacuation of family members trapped in Gaza so that reunification rights are not rendered meaningless by legal, political, or practical barriers.