Announcements

In the early hours of 30 April 2026, the Israeli Navy intercepted vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing off the coast of Crete carrying humanitarian aid. The Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, denounce this raid and call on the Israeli authorities to immediately release all the activists illegally detained, and call on the Greek authorities to act immediately to secure the activists’ safe release.

Find the joint statement in the FIDH’s website here.

The Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR) expresses its concern over the decision to discontinue the Greek Service of Deutsche Welle after more than six decades of operation.

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.

Appeals by survivors of the tragic shipwreck accepted

The International Federation for Human Rights – FIDH has issued a statement on Greece, calling for an end to the systematic targeting of civil society organisations active in the fields of asylum and migration.

Athens, 14 July 2025 – The Racist Violence Recording Network (the Network) is increasingly concerned by a noticeable shift in public discourse towards xenophobia, racist rhetoric, and diminishing adherence to fundamental principles of the rule of law, in the context of migration and asylum management in the country.

The undersigned human rights and humanitarian organizations and trade unions urge the EU to ensure that the ongoing review of Israel’s compliance with article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement be thorough, comprehensive, and credible.

The Greek Forum of Refugees (GFR) and the RISE Network[1] (Refugees Ideas and Solutions for Europe) express their outrage, profound concern, and deep sorrow over yet another brutal crime against refugees in the Aegean Sea. On December 20, 2024, near Rhodes Island, the Hellenic Coast Guard deliberately rammed a boat carrying 27 refugees, including women and children, leaving eight dead, three of whom were decapitated or lost part of their bodies due to the severity of the collision. In addition, a four-year-old girl is missing. This was neither an accident nor an incident – it was a brutal crime.

On Tuesday 4 February, a Press Conference on the current state of the Rule of Law in Greece was successfully held at the Athens Bar Association with a significant turnout. The event was organised by the independent organisations Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR), HIAS Greece, Homo Digitalis, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), Reporters United, Solomon, and Vouliwatch.

The annual report of the European Commission on the state of the Rule of Law is interpreted by the Greek Government as a positive recognition of its policies and actions—a fact that, however, appears to be in stark contradiction with the observations and concerns expressed by international organizations such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe regarding the country’s institutions.

The absence of any investigation into the responsibilities of the competent search and rescue bodies and the leadership of the Coast Guard and the Greek Coast Guard is deafening

Call for the adoption of an additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment

To the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and to the Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the Council of Europe