General News
Joint Statement: Cash assistance must resume immediately: After 9 months without financial support, asylum seekers in Greece are struggling to meet their basic needs GalleryJoint Statement: Cash assistance must resume immediately: After 9 months without financial support, asylum seekers in Greece are struggling to meet their basic needs
Joint Statement: Cash assistance must resume immediately: After 9 months without financial support, asylum seekers in Greece are struggling to meet their basic needs
The undersigned organisations are in contact with asylum seekers living in refugee camps throughout Greece who report desperation at the ongoing lack of cash assistance payments, which has left people in the asylum procedure without any income since summer 2024. For some who face lengthy delays in the [...]
Joint Letter: Unlawful Detention and Sub-standard Conditions Must Not Become a Blueprint For The EU Migration Pact
Together with four organizations, I Have Rights urges the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, to use the EU Commission’s oversight to monitor and improve conditions in the Samos CCAC to address its persistent shortcomings and human rights concerns. Ahead of last year’s adoption of [...]
14 years after landmark ruling, Greece still fails to comply with judgement from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
Joint submission to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe I Have Rights, Equal Legal Aid and Mobile Info Team jointly presented evidence to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the implementation of ECtHR judgement on M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, highlighting [...]
Press release: NGOs on Samos uncover a covert operation against asylum seekers and the invasive use of technology in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre GalleryPress release: NGOs on Samos uncover a covert operation against asylum seekers and the invasive use of technology in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre
Press release: NGOs on Samos uncover a covert operation against asylum seekers and the invasive use of technology in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre
Hot off the heels of being condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for systemic pushbacks, Greece is also violating the rights of asylum seekers in the digital arena. [Δείτε παρακάτω για το δελτίο τύπου στα ελληνικά] 21 January 2025, Samos, Greece. Asylum seekers arriving in Samos [...]
I Have Rights’ 2024 Annual Report
2024 was a pivotal chapter at I Have Rights. In 2024, people in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) continued to face dire conditions and violations of their basic human rights. Against this backdrop, our team worked to provide critical support to those seeking safety. In 2024 [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons highlights serious gaps in the Greek authorities’ treatment of survivors of human trafficking in the Samos CCAC GalleryThe UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons highlights serious gaps in the Greek authorities’ treatment of survivors of human trafficking in the Samos CCAC
The UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons highlights serious gaps in the Greek authorities’ treatment of survivors of human trafficking in the Samos CCAC
Samos, 15 November 2024 - The UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Siobhán Mullally, has published a letter of allegation against the Greek Government due to its “failure to adequately identify possible victims of trafficking, especially women and children, and failure to protect identified victims of trafficking [...]
ECtHR Condemns Greece For Human Rights Violations Against Seven Anaccompanied Children
The events date back to 2020 at the Samos hotspot, where the minors — now all adults — were subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment as well as human rights violations. The Greek government will be required to compensate them for a total of 41.500 Euros; For the [...]
Greek Ombudsman Condemns Samos CCAC’s Unlawful Practice of Requiring Asylum Seekers to Waive Their Right to Reception Conditions
Samos 24th September 2024 – The Greek Ombudsman has found that the Reception and Identification Service (RIS) at the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) acted unlawfully. In 2023, asylum seekers were required by the RIS to waive their rights to reception conditions in order to be transferred [...]
Joint Submission to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in the cases of M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece & Rahimi v. Greece
I Have Rights, Equal Legal Aid and Mobile Info Team jointly presented evidence to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the implementation of the M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece and Rahimi v. Greece cases. Both cases highlighted important issues regarding the treatment of asylum [...]
European Ombudsman opens an inquiry into how the European Union Agency for Asylum addresses allegations of fundamental rights violations in its activities in Greece GalleryEuropean Ombudsman opens an inquiry into how the European Union Agency for Asylum addresses allegations of fundamental rights violations in its activities in Greece
European Ombudsman opens an inquiry into how the European Union Agency for Asylum addresses allegations of fundamental rights violations in its activities in Greece
Press Release, Samos, 17th July - On 11 July, the European Ombudsman opened an inquiry into how the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) addresses allegations of fundamental rights violations in its activities in Greece (case 229/2024/AML). The inquiry is based on a joint complaint against the EUAA [...]
Joint Statement: Lack of interpretation services lengthens existing delays to access asylum and leaves people without protection
On 14th May the main provider of interpreters to the Greek asylum service, Metadrasi, announced the suspension of its services in both Reception and Identification Centres (RICs) and the Asylum Service, due to months of delay in payment by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum (MoMA). As a [...]
I Have Rights calls on the UN Special Rapporteur to Investigate Greece’s Treatment of Trafficking Survivors on Samos
In a recent communication to the Special Rapporteur, I Have Rights urgently called for an investigation into Greece's treatment of survivors of human trafficking on the island of Samos. This plea comes as a follow-up to an initial confidential complaint dated 23 October 2022, which highlighted systemic failures [...]
Call for Solidarity at the ‘Pylos 9’ Trial
15 May 2024 - On Tuesday 21 May 2024, the trial of 9 of the survivors (the ‘Pylos 9’) from the shipwreck of the fishing vessel “Adriana”, that occurred on 14 June 2023 in international waters near Pylos, is scheduled to take place before the Three Member Felony [...]
European Court of Human Rights again condemns Greece’s Treatment of an asylum seeker on Samos
Samos, 19 April 2024 – Yesterday, in the case of, A.R. and Others v. Greece (Appl. No. Applications nos. 59841/19 and 2 others) the European Court of Human Rights delivered a decisive verdict, condemning the treatment of three asylum seekers in the hotspots of Kos, Samos and Chios. [...]
Systemic unaccountability at the EU’s external border: missed opportunities of the European Ombudsperson’s decision on Frontex’s SAR role and obligations in the Aegean region GallerySystemic unaccountability at the EU’s external border: missed opportunities of the European Ombudsperson’s decision on Frontex’s SAR role and obligations in the Aegean region
Systemic unaccountability at the EU’s external border: missed opportunities of the European Ombudsperson’s decision on Frontex’s SAR role and obligations in the Aegean region
Today, I Have Rights, Legal Centre Lesvos and de:border // migration justice publish a joint statement highlighting systemic unaccountability at the EU's external border. The statement is in response to the European Ombudsperson’s decision, published on 28 February 2024, following its own-initiative strategic inquiry concerning the role of [...]
Joint Statement: Calling MEPs to Reject Schengen Borders Code
85 Civil Society Organisations Call on MEPs to Uphold Fundamental Rights and Reject the Harmful Schengen Borders Code Recast. Despite repeated warnings from Civil Society Organisations, EU lawmakers have reached an agreement on the Schengen Borders Code reform which will be voted on in the LIBE Committee next [...]
Degrading conditions in Samos CCAC: The European Court of Human Rights grants Interim Measures
The European Court of Human Rights has granted Interim Measures with regards to a mother and baby held in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre. The Court orders the Greek Authorities to accommodate the Applicants in safe and suitable accommodation. Samos, 7 February 2024 - On 05/02/2024, in [...]
Joint Statement: Call for Upholding Human Rights in Samos CCAC
31st January 2024 - Today, civil society organisations unite their voices to denounce the inhumane and degrading living conditions in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) and the continued failure to uphold human rights standards. We, the undersigned organisations, once again call for the closure of the [...]
Greek Ombudsman finds that CCAC is unlawfully restricting access to lawyers
Following a joint complaint made by Avocats Sans Frontieres France, I Have Rights and Human Rights Legal Project, the Greek Ombudsman has found that the Reception and Identification Service (RIS) of the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) unlawfully restricts lawyers’ access to [...]
European Court of Human Rights Condemns Greece’s Treatment of an Unaccompanied Child on Samos
Samos, 18 January 2024 – Today, in the case of T.K. v. Greece (Application No. 16112/20), the European Court of Human Rights delivered a decisive verdict, condemning the treatment of an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child on the Greek island of Samos. The Court found that the wrong registration of [...]
Newsletter #8 – Janurary 2024
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* View this email in your browser Our 2023 Annual Report is Out! Last year was a defining chapter in I Have Rights’ work and we want to thank you for your support throughout 2023. While the challenges faced were high, our shared commitment to upholding the rights [...]
Our 2023 Annual Report
Last year was a defining chapter in I Have Rights’ work and we want to thank you for your support throughout 2023. While the challenges faced were high, our shared commitment to upholding the rights of people on the move only strengthened. In 2023, Samos saw a 300% [...]
Joint Policy Paper: The EU Screening Regulation
November, 30th 2023 - The European Commission’s Proposal for the Screening Regulation in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum introduces a screening procedure for Third Country Nationals (TCNs) arriving at external European borders in what the Commission announced as a “more efficient, seamless and harmonised migration management [...]
The European Court of Human Rights again condemns the living conditions of asylum seekers on Samos
The European Court of Human Rights again condemns the living conditions of asylum seekers in the Greek “hotspot” on Samos as inhumane and degrading treatment. Press ReleaseSamos, 24th November 2023 - Yesterday, in the cases of M.L. v. Greece (Application No. 8386/20) and M.B. v. Greece (Application No. 8389/20), the [...]
IHR joint contribution to latest report on violence against women in Greece by GREVIO
Evidence jointly presented by I Have Rights and the Human Rights Legal Project has been included in the latest GREVIO (Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) report on Greece. These testimonies included extremely alarming experiences of violence against women including: Violations of [...]
‘Sanctioned Ignorance’ and the detention of people seeking asylum in the EU-funded CCAC on Samos
In this article, I Have Rights team member Ellen Allde demonstrates that the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) on Samos is a site of unlawful de facto detention of people on the move. Allde develops Gayatri Spivak’s concept of ‘sanctioned ignorance’ to consider how the constant changes and prolonged [...]
Briefing for November 6 Trilogue on the Screening Regulation
November, 6th 2023 - The European Commission, Parliament and Council are meeting to discuss the Screening Regulation of the European New Pact on Migration and Asylum. This briefing, written along with the Border Violence Monitoring Network, aims to provide evidence from research conducted in Greece and Italy that [...]
Joint Statement – Unlawful Detention and Worsening Conditions: Over 4000 Asylum Seekers Unlawfully Detained on Samos and Lesvos
In a deeply concerning development, asylum seekers on the Aegean islands of Samos and Lesvos are being placed en mass into unlawful detention in appalling conditions in the EU-funded Closed Controlled Access Centers (CCACs) while awaiting registration of their asylum requests. Following a sharp increase in arriving asylum seekers [...]
Unidentified, unrecognised and denied support: survivors of human trafficking in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre
Report from Samos demonstrates that Greek and EU-authorities routinely violate the rights of survivors of human trafficking. 6th September 2023, Vathy, Samos: Through analysing the cases of 53 survivors of human trafficking, I Have Rights (IHR), a non-profit legal organisation based on Samos, presents evidence that at every [...]
Newsletter #7 – July 2023
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Updates from Samos Dear I Have Rights supporters, While summer is in full swing, an unprecedented heatwave has hit Greece. Its effects on residents of the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) are multiplied, and the low amounts of water provided to them [...]
12 years after M.S.S.: Reporting on Human Rights, Access to Asylum and Detention in Greece
Joint Submission by I Have Rights and Mobile Info Team The landmark 2011 M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece ruling by the European Court of Human Rights found that the Greek Government violated Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, namely the prohibition of inhuman and [...]
Third Party Intervention to the European Court of Human Rights
Press Release I Have Rights and the Border Violence Monitoring Network present evidence of an established practice of pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish land border and demonstrate a lack of access to domestic remedies in Greece for survivors. VATHY, 25th July 2023 – I Have Rights (IHR), a [...]
GREVIO evaluation report on the implementation of the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. GalleryGREVIO evaluation report on the implementation of the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
GREVIO evaluation report on the implementation of the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
Press Release Samos, Greece - I Have Rights (IHR) and The Human Rights Legal Project (HRLP) has submitted a joint report to the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) on the violations of the Istanbul Convention in [...]
Joint Statement: Shutdown of the Greek Asylum Service database leaves people unable to claim asylum and in limbo
Between 5th May and 7th June 2023, most of the operations of Greek asylum authorities under the umbrella of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum (MoMA) were halted due to an upgrade of the Asylum Service’s database, Alkyoni. During this period, no operations involving the Alkyoni system could [...]
“They are killing minds”- Life in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre
In a report out on International Refugee Day, I Have Rights shares testimonies of people held in the EU-Funded Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC). Vathy, 20th August 2023 (International Refugee Day) - A report out today provides testimony from people who are or have been accommodated in [...]
Policy Brief on evidence of Aegean pushbacks
Following the video evidence published on May 19th by the New York Times, I Have Rights (IHR) and the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) sent a joint briefing to Members of Parliament, sharing data and testimonies of survivors of pushbacks in the Aegean recorded over the last two years. [...]
Submission to the European Commission for the Have Your Say initiative on fighting human trafficking.
The European Commission recently decided to review the EU Anti-Trafficking directive, and IHR has provided feedback on the proposed revisions. We believe that survivors of trafficking should be given the opportunity to disclose their experiences at all points of the asylum procedure. As the Northern Aegean islands are [...]
Input to the OHCHR Secretary-General Report on the Human Rights of Migrants: Key challenges relating to immigration detention in Greece
Joint submission from I Have Rights and Mobile Info Team, with the support of the Border Violence Monitoring Network. In this submission we present key challenges and recommendations relating to formal immigration detention and de facto detention in Greece. We identify systemic challenges, as well as contextual differences, in [...]
Letter from people in the Samos CCAC
This letter was shared with us from people that are currently protesting in the Samos Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC). With their permission, we are sharing it here. AGENDA OF THE PROTEST Greetings from the Concern Asylum Seekers of the Samos Camp. For quite too long, we have been [...]
Joint Statement: Call for the Closure of the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre
As actors on the island who work to defend the rights of people on the move, we are deeply concerned about the Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre’s (CCAC) compliance with human rights standards and have, since its opening, called for its closure and for people to be accommodated within [...]
Newsletter #6 – April 2023
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Updates from Samos Dear supporters of I Have Rights, It has been a few months since the new year started and the situation has been critical. Samos experienced arrival rates much higher than the ones of previous winters, with over six hundred recorded in [...]
Appeals Authority overrule the asylum service’s decision to put a vulnerable person through the accelerated procedure
Case Study In an asylum case where I Have Rights provided legal aid, the Greek Appeals Authority ruled that the Regional Asylum Office of Samos failed to consider an asylum seeker’s vulnerability when subjecting her to the accelerated asylum procedure and rejected her claim on credibility grounds. [...]
Young mother successfully sues the Greek Government for the treatment she suffered as a pregnant woman in the “hotspot” on Samos
Press Release For the first time, the European Court of Human Rights has condemned the living conditions faced by an asylum seeker in a Greek hotspot as inhumane and degrading treatment. It found a violation of Article 3 of the Convention and awarded the applicant 5000 Euro [...]
Samos organisations present evidence of systematic human rights violations against people on the move to Council of Europe in the implementation of the Safi judgement GallerySamos organisations present evidence of systematic human rights violations against people on the move to Council of Europe in the implementation of the Safi judgement
Samos organisations present evidence of systematic human rights violations against people on the move to Council of Europe in the implementation of the Safi judgement
Press Release Samos organisations, I Have Rights and the Human Rights Legal Project, present evidence to the Council of Europe on systematic human rights violations against people on the move in Greece, including torture, pushbacks and lack of investigations into such violations. VATHY, 24 March 2023 [...]
The EU-Funded Closed Controlled Access Centre – The De Facto Detention of Asylum Seekers on Samos
Press Release In their report out today, I Have Rights demonstrates that the Samos CCAC is a place of unlawful de facto detention which violates people on the move’s legal right to liberty and security as well as the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment under international [...]
Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre breaks EU human rights standards
In our joint contribution to a consultation launched by the EU Ombudsman under an inquiry on how the Commission can ensure human rights compliance in new 260 million euro EU funded reception facilities on the Greek islands, I Have Rights (IHR) and the International Rescue Committee [...]
Follow-up letter to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum
I Have Rights is one of 14 signatory organizations that sent a letter to the Minister of Migration and Asylum in September last year to raise the alarm on the risk of homelessness faced by recognized refugees due to administrative delays. Not only has the Minister not answered said [...]
I Have Rights’ 2022 Annual Report
In 2022, the I Have Rights team worked to uphold the rights of people on the move. Our teams, including our legal team, strategic litigation team, advocacy team, and core group worked together to improve the situation of asylum seekers and migrants on Samos and to advocate for greater [...]
Newsletter #5 – December 2022
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Updates from Samos Dear supporters of I Have Rights, 2022 was a tumultuous year for many, including for us on Samos. While the world's highest ever number of displaced people was counted in 2022, and most of these people were placed in neighbouring and low/middle-income countries, [...]
Call to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum
I Have Rights, together with 10 organisations, sent a letter to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum urging them to abandon their plans to restrict access to Wi-Fi at the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) on Samos from January 2023. We and other stakeholders on Samos have learned that [...]
Online panel talk
The lack of access to justice, medical care and dignified living circumstances: Fighting systematic human rights violations on the EU’s external border with legal means 🗓️ 24.10.2022, 7 - 8 pm CEST An online panel talk with: Ella Dodd, legal coordinator of I Have Right’s legal [...]
Stop immediately the pushbacks that endanger human lives and discredit the country internationally
Press release IT IS THE GREEK GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY TO IMMEDIATELY PUT A STOP TO INFORMAL FORCED RETURNS (PUSHBACKS): THEY ENDANGER HUMAN LIVES AND BREACH THE STATE’S INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS Greek version here Athens, 5 October 2022 The way in which the Ministry of Migration [...]
Frontex fails to report potential violations of human rights
Press release GREECE: FRONTEX FAILS TO REPORT POTENTIAL VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS Seven civil society organizations from Samos island presented their allegation briefing to MEPs, ahead of LIBE Committee meeting on October 10th. VATHY, October 4th, 2022 - [...]
Submission to the EU Commission’s ‘Call for Evidence’ regarding Frontex Regulation
I HAVE RIGHTS’ Strategic Litigation Taskforce submitted feedback to the European Commission regarding the founding Regulation of Frontex (Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 on the European Border and Coast Guard/Frontex). In our submission, we focus on Article 46 of the Regulation, which obliges Frontex’s executive director to leave an operational [...]
Newsletter #4 – September 2022
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Updates from Samos Dear supporters of I HAVE RIGHTS, as you most probably have noticed we decided to send our updates from Samos now quarterly. The last three months have seen a further increase in asylum seekers reaching the island. At the same time, legal actors [...]
Open Letter to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum
I HAVE RIGHTS, along with 13 organisations, sent a letter to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum in preparation for an upcoming Ministerial Decision that aims to define categories according to which recognised refugees and people granted subsidiary protection would be allowed to stay in the Closed Controlled Access [...]
One year since Greece opened new “prison-like” refugee camps, NGOs call for a more humane approach
Prison-like conditions in Closed Controlled Access Centres (CCAC) on Samos and other Greek islands have devastating impacts on asylum seekers. People living in the CCAC on Samos report of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts as results of detention, isolation and inadequate medical and psychological treatment. Together with 20 other [...]
Solidarity from Samos for those struggling in Eleonas camp
Cet article peut être lu en français. يمكن قراءة هذه المقالة باللغة العربية. As an organisation based on Samos, I HAVE RIGHTS (IHR) has witnessed to the shift from open camps to Closed Control Access Centres (CCAC), which by design detain, control and dehumanise people seeking safety. An [...]
Interim measure granted in case concerning denial of emergency medical treatment for two of IHR’s beneficiaries
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has granted an urgent interim measure pursuant to Article 39 of the Rules of Court in the cases C.N. v. Greece (Application no. 32683/22) and R.M. v. Greece (Application no. 32755/22). The cases concerned two people, represented by I HAVE RIGHTS (IHR), [...]
Human Rights Defenders on Samos call for Frontex to suspend operations in Greece
Human rights defenders on Samos are demanding the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex, terminate its operations on the Greek island of Samos. This comes after mounting evidence that Greek authorities and Frontex are violating international law by illegally pushing back to Turkey people seeking [...]
Newsletter #3 – June 2022
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Newsletter #3 Dear supporters of I HAVE RIGHTS, another month has passed and so we are writing to you to give you an update from Samos. This month has seen an increase in asylum seekers reaching the island, and so our team is busier than ever. [...]
The Committee of the Rights of the Child Sides with Still I Rise and I HAVE RIGHTS.
In its most recent evaluative report on Greece, released on June 9, 2022, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has demanded that Greece cease its detention of refugee youth and reform its policies towards refugee children, which violate their rights as per the UN [...]
“A Life Without Freedom Is Not A Life”
20th of June 2022 Today marks WORLD REFUGEE DAY, but it's no reason to celebrate. It's a day to raise awareness of the fact that not all refugees are safe in Europe and there are many people who came to Europe to seek protection but are now locked inside [...]
Criminalisation of Asylum Seekers: The #Samos2 trial
The criminalisation of asylum seekers is a systematic practice in Greece and is part of a wider effort to prevent people seeking safety in Europe. For the majority of people seeking asylum, there are no direct or regular routes to reach Europe. Instead, people are forced to take irregular [...]
Newsletter #2 – May 2022
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Newsletter #2 Dear supporters of I HAVE RIGHTS, welcome to our second newsletter! For new subscribers or in case you missed the first issue, you can find all newsletters on our website in the newsletter archive: https://ihaverights.eu/news/newsletter-archive/ The current situation on Samos Increasing movement restrictions The [...]
LGBTQIA+ Cases In The Asylum Procedure
This blogpost is based on the report "Naming and Shaming - Harmful asylum procedures for sexual orientation and gender identity claims on Lesvos" by Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid. We want to give an overview of the important findings from their research on sexual orientation and gender identity claims [...]
Unaccompanied minors in the Closed Controlled Access Centre of Samos
Additional Submission to the Committee of the Rights of the Child regarding Greece’s non-compliance with the Convention. 3rd of May 2022 Still I Rise, an international non-profit organisation providing education and safety to refugee children in their Mazi Centre on Samos, and I HAVE RIGHTS., a non-profit refugee [...]
Newsletter #1 – April 2022
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* Welcome to the 1. Newsletter of I HAVE RIGHTS! Who are we? I Have Rights is a new legal organisation operating on Samos, Greece. We emerged from the Refugee Law Clinic Berlin after operating on the island for more than 3 years. We decided to found [...]
The Voice Of The Voiceless – A Community Newsletter
A newsletter from the communities living in Samos “We are people from different communities living in the Closed Controlled Access Centre in Samos, Greece. In this newsletter, we are raising our voices to whoever is concerned against the difficulties we have in the camp of Samos.” "We realised [...]
Conditions in the Closed Controlled Access Centre of Samos
A Samos Situation Report (March 2022) from the Samos Advocacy Collective and Europe Must Act. In the end of March, the Samos Advocacy Collective and Europe Must Act sent a report to Pietro Bartolo, a member of the European Parliament, to give an overview about the current situation in [...]
European Commission continues to reject responsibility to uphold fundamental human rights in Samos
[Press release by Europe Must Act] A correspondence between the Samos Advocacy Collective and the European Commission regarding the current movement restrictions of asylum seekers in the Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) of Samos unveils the inhumanity of the complex asylum system and the worrying lack of accountability from the EU.
6. Anniversary of the EU-Turkey Deal
Six years ago, on the 18th of March 2016, the EU-Turkey Deal was adopted by the European Council and Turkey. The deal’s goal was clear: to prevent people from coming to Europe to ask for asylum by keeping them in Turkey while compensating Turkey with “development” aid.
“All I want is to be free and leave”
18. December 2021 On International Migrants Day the Samos Advocacy Collective and Europe Must Act release a report on life in the Closed Controlled Access Centre of Samos. In September 2021, European and Greek authorities inaugurated the Closed Controlled Access Centre of Samos, the [...]
GROWING HUNGER IN GREECE
25 November 2021 – A halt to cash assistance for asylum seekers, and the denial of food support to recognised refugees and rejected asylum seekers is creating a hunger crisis in Greece, 27 NGOs and civil society organisations warn today. For nearly two months, up to [...]
Free the Samos 2!
The real crime is the border regime - Justice for N. & Hasan After shipwreck, survivor faces more than 230 years for “boat driving” and father charged with the death of his 6-year-old child On the Greek islands, the politics of criminalization and deterrence of [...]
Relocation from Greece
Lessons learned and looking ahead. A joint NGO briefing paper. Since 2015, over 25,000 vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, have been relocated from Greece to other European countries. These relocation programmes – the result of Decisions of the Council of the EU establishing an emergency mandatory [...]
Camp movement on Samos
The new Refugee Camp on Samos officially opened on the 18th of September 2021. Greek authorities and several high-ranking politicians such as Notis Mitarakis, Greek Minister of Migration & Asylum and Beate Gminder, Head of the "Task Force Migration Management" for the European Commission 'inaugurated' the new Closed [...]
Our history
The Refugee Law Clinic Berlin (RLCB) started the legal information project on Samos in 2018. The organisation provided legal support in the form of interview preparations, legal information and workshops. As the project on Samos started to grow over the last years, the organisation of RLCB decided to [...]
Legal Information
Asylum Procedure in Greece
How does the asylum procedure actually work in Greece? The unprecedented influx of migrants and refugees seeking asylum to Europe beginning in 2015 necessitated major legal and structural changes to asylum law in both EU policy writ large and individual domestic policy within member states. One issue that [...]
