Greece: Criminal law used to target civil society organisations
Topic
Country/Region
28 January 2026
The Greek government's latest move to stifle the work of civil society groups has been condemned by more than 70 organisations, including Statewatch, as unjust, unlawful and unreasonable.
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Image: Marienna Pope-Weidemann, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The government's proposed changes to the country's migration code would transform certain misdemeanours into criminal offences, if committed by members of a group entered in the country's registry of non-government organisations.
The registry was introduced in 2020 and widely-criticised, including by experts from the Council of Europe who said (pdf) it was detrimental to "freedom of association and the protection of civil society space."
The registry followed on from government efforts that began in 2016, when large numbers of refugees were arriving in and travelling through Greece, and voluntary groups sprang up to help them.
The new proposals follow on from a range of measures introduced last year dealing with "transparency" and preventing criticism by NGOs of the government's migration policy.
Repeated attacks on independent organisations by the New Democracy government have severely limited their ability to provide support to refugees.
The changes to Greece's migration code are condemned in a statement coordinated by Refugee Support Aegean.
The statement condemns the plans for trying to "intimidate civil society... For the undersigned organisations, this attempt is unjust, unlawful, and unreasonable. We call for the immediate withdrawal of these provisions."
Joint Civil Society Statement on the Migration Ministry bill
Working for an organisation registered in the “NGO Registry” of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum becomes a punishable offence with the proposed changes to Articles 24 and 25 of the Migration Code.
After five years of constant recommendations from the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the UN to put an end to arbitrary restrictions on the work of civil society organisations supporting refugees and migrants, the Ministry continues to target the organisations deemed inconvenient solely for carrying out their work.
The mere membership inof an organisation registered in the NGO Registry elevates misdemeanours such as facilitation of illegal stay, or refusal to hand a travel document, to felonies punishable by up to ten years’ imprisonment and fines of tens of thousands of euros. It is thus considered an aggravating circumstance sufficient to reclassify the offence as a felony, in an affront to fundamental principles of criminal policy and legislation. Mere criminal prosecution suffices for removal of the organisation from the Registry.
These provisions are intended to intimidate civil society. They are introduced only a few months after the Minister of Migration and Asylum made threats against the legal representatives of people who arrived in Crete during the unlawful three-month asylum ban and were protected from deportation by interim measures of the European Court of Human Rights. These attacks were immediately condemned by international and national institutions, yet the competent Minister refuses to retract them.
For the undersigned organisations, this attempt is unjust, unlawful, and unreasonable. We call for the immediate withdrawal of these provisions.
The undersigned organisations:
- ANTIGONE
Centre on Information and Documentation on racism, ecology, peace and non-violence - ART HUB Athens
- Association of Greek Conscientious Objectors
- Association of Greek Small- and Medium CSOs
- Boat Refugee Foundation
- CALLISTO
- Caritas Hellas
- Centre Diotima
- Changemakers Lab
- Civil Society Alliance Greece
- Collective Aid
- Community Peacemaker Teams-Aegean Migrant Solidarity
- DCI Greece
- Doctors of the World – Greek Delegation
- ECHO100PLUS
- Ecological Movement of Thessaloniki
- Ecological Network
- Ecology-Solidarity
- Emfasis Non-Profit
- EmpowerVan
- Equal Legal Aid (ELA)
- Equal Rights Beyond Borders
- Europe Cares e.V.
- FemArtAct
- Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid
- Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)
- Greek Forum of Migrants
- Greek Forum of Refugees
- Greek Helsinki Monitor
- Greek Housing Network
- Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR)
- HIAS Greece
- HIGGS
- The HOME Project
- Human Rights Legal Project
- I Have Rights
- Ithaca Laundry
- Inter Alia
- Intereuropean Human Aid Association
- InterMediaKT
- INTERSOS HELLAS
- Irida Women’s Center
- iSea
- Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Greece
- Last Rights
- Legal Centre Lesvos
- Lesvos Solidarity – LESOL
- Mazí Housing
- Médecins Sans Frontières Greece
- Melissa Network of Migrant Women in Greece
- Mobile Info Team
- Network for Social Support to Refugees and Migrants
- Nimertis Action Art
- Northern Lights Aid
- PΕkAmeA
- Police Violence Observatory – Copwatch GR
- PRAKSIS
- Project Armonia
- Reading to the Others
- Ref Checkpoint
- Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)
- Safe Passage International Greece
- Samos Volunteers
- SAO Association
- SHE – Society for Help and Empowerment
- Statewatch
- Symbiosis-Council of Europe School of Political Studies in Greece
- Symplexis
- ΤhessDiktio
- Velos Youth
- VIOZO – Greek Union of Consumers
- Women’s Self Defence Group
- Vouliwatch
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Further reading
Greece: Illegal, violent deportations: the heavy toll of seeking asylum in Europe
Asylum seekers in Lesvos report that violent pushbacks by masked Greek coastguard forces persist, involving physical abuse, strip searches, theft, and potential use of migrants as auxiliaries.
Greek border deaths: Frontex management board knew about "systematic" violations
An investigation by the BBC has put the Greek state’s deadly border policies back in the public eye – but there has so far been no mention in the press of Frontex’s operations in the country. Documents seen by Statewatch show that despite warnings from its own fundamental rights officials, Frontex’s senior staff and management board did nothing to halt the agency’s operations in Greece. Suspending or terminating operations is a legal obligation when rights violations “are of a serious nature or are likely to persist.” A case before the Court of Justice of the EU is seeking an order to halt Frontex’s Greek operations, with an appeal filed in January still pending.
Greece: Crackdown on civil society groups working with refugees
A survey of 70 groups working with migrants and refugees in Greece reveals widespread problems provoked by changes to the country's legislation governing civil society organisations.
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