The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Greece on 16 September 2025. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. The Government replied on 24 November 2025.
The Special Rapporteur is concerned at further statements by the Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece stating the government’s intention to restrict the work of NGOs in the country since the communication was sent.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: public statements by government officials targeting human rights organisations working in the field of migration and recently introduced restrictions on the right to seek asylum.
Concerns as to threats, smears, intimidation and the misuse of criminal law against human rights defenders working in the field of migration in Greece have been communicated to the Government of Greece on several previous occasions, notably through communications sent by Special Procedures mandate holders on 28 December 2022 (GRC 3/2022), 19 July 2022 (GRC 2/2022), 16 November 2021 (GRC 4/2021), 31 March 2021 (GRC 1/2021) and 1 May 2020 (GRC 2/2020).
Further concerns were expressed in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders following her country visit to Greece in 2022 (A/HRC/52/29/Add.1), in which she documented increasing repression of the work of human rights defenders in the field of migration, including through restrictive legislation regulating non-governmental organisations, the NGO Registry of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, smears by government officials against migrants’ rights defenders, and criminalisation. Specific concerns were also raised by the Special Rapporteur in her report about government pushback creating an increasingly hostile environment for lawyers working in the field of migration in Greece.
We thank the Government for the responses received to the above-detailed communications, however, we renew our concerns as to the situation for people defending the rights of migrants, refugee and asylum seekers in Greece, in light of the following information received.
ALLEGATIONS
On 11 July 2025, the Hellenic Parliament adopted Law 5218/2025, imposing a three-month ban on the submission of asylum claims from persons arriving in Greece from North Africa by sea. The law also ordered the immediate deportation of any such persons to their country of origin or transit without the registration of their asylum claims. Following the adoption of the legislation, people seeking asylum in Greece having arrived from North Africa have been automatically detained in ‘pre-removal detention centres’ on the Greek mainland, with generic removal orders issued against them, their right to seek asylum denied, and no-assessment of the risk of refoulement carried out, even in cases where specific concerns are raised as to this risk.
On 14 August 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), under rule 39 of its Rules of Court, indicated interim measures to the Greek government in relation to eight people from Sudan seeking asylum in Greece, ruling the Greek government must refrain from removing them from Greek territory until legal appeals filed against their removal had been heard in Greece. The eight Sudanese citizens were supported in bringing their case to the ECtHR by lawyers from [redacted].
On 20 August 2025, the Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece, Mr. Thanos Plevris, was interviewed by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. During the interview, Mr. Plevris addressed the decision of the ECtHR, as well as the role of [redacted] in bringing the case to the court, and announced that there would be an administrative audit of NGOs providing legal support to asylum seekers, referring in particular to organisations included on the NGO Registry of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.
On 21 August 2025, media articles appeared in Greece reporting that the Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece, Mr. Thanos Plevris, intends to establish a working group to revise the conditions for acceding to or remaining on the Ministry’s registry for NGOs working in the field of migration and asylum. The reports, based on unnamed sources, indicated that under the measures being prepared by the Minister, NGOs could be removed from the registry if they oppose the government’s migration policy, bring legal challenges against decisions of State bodies in the field of asylum, or misuse funds.
On 2 September 2025, the Hellenic Parliament adopted legislation introducing new measures in relation to persons who see their claims for asylum in Greece rejected. The measures adopted include: 2 to 5 year prison sentences for people who remain in Greece irregularly for more than 14 days following a negative asylum decision; fines of up to €10,000 for “illegal entry” into Greece; an increase from 18 to 24 months for the period of possible detention for people who enter Greece and claim asylum without correct documentation; an expansion of the list of countries deemed safe for the return of people who have had their asylum claims rejected in Greece; and an increase in the duration of entry bans imposed on individuals for security reasons.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our grave concern at the public statements by the Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece, Mr. Thanos Plevris, in relation to non-governmental organisations working in the field of asylum and migration. We fear that the statements by Mr. Plevris amount to an attack on the legitimate work of these organisations in defence of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, and to be designed to intimidate them and delegitimise their human rights work in the eyes of the public. Our fears in this sense are compounded by the repeated denigration of the work of people acting in defence of the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Greece, including lawyers, as raised in previous communications addressed to the Government of Greece on the matter and the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders following her official country visit to Greece. The allegations, if proven to be true, would confirm concerns expressed in these communications and the Special Rapporteur’s report as to the necessity and proportionality of the NGO Registry of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, and its potential to be used to restrict, sanction and halt the work of human rights organisations in the country.
We express further concern at the recent legislation adopted by the Hellenic Parliament restricting the right to claim asylum in Greece. The right to seek asylum is a fundamental human right held by all persons irrespective of where they come from or how they arrive in a given jurisdiction. States must ensure that those wishing to seek asylum have access to asylum procedures, while the principle of non-refoulement is a core, non-derogable principle of international law. People must not be punished for seeking asylum.
