Press Releases

Is there a difference between Citizenship and Nationality? Is everyone born in Greece automatically entitled to Greek citizenship or must they meet more conditions? Do they receive a national ID within a few months? And what about honorary naturalizations? How easy is it to become a Greek after all?

How much do we really know about Greek citizenship?

The publication “Greek Citizenship: A Mythbuster” aims to fill the information gap and the lack of meaningful dialogue on an issue that concerns us all: citizenship.

Hellenic League of Human Rights along with 11 civil society organizations and independent media addressed a letter to the Vice-President and Commissioner for Values and Transparency,  Vera Jourova and the member of LIBE committee of the european parliament, to express our serious concerns with regards to the continuous deterioration of the state of the Rule of Law in Greece.

Με επιστολή τους της 27ης Απριλίου 2021 προς την Ευρωπαία Επίτροπο Εσωτερικών Υποθέσεων, Ylva Johansson, πέντε οργανώσεις της κοινωνίας των πολιτών αιτούνται από την Επιτροπή την εκτίμησή της ως προς τη συμμόρφωση της Ελλάδας με τις διαδικαστικές υποχρεώσεις της σχετικά με την αρχή της μη επαναπροώθησης και την υποχρέωση παροχής πρόσβασης στο άσυλο στα χερσαία και θαλάσσια σύνορα.

Μια δομή που αποτελεί εδώ και χρόνια σύμβολο ανθρωπιάς και αλληλεγγύης αναγκάζεται να κλείσει σήμερα.

The trial of the Golden Dawn case is going to be completed soon, after a lengthy process of almost six years, while the Court has ruled unanimously that Golden Dawn was set up and operated as a criminal organization and found guilty the majority of those accused of a number of criminal acts.

Η Βουλή των Ελλήνων πρέπει να ξεκινήσει κατεπείγουσα έρευνα για όλους τους ισχυρισμούς που αφορούν παράνομες επιστροφές μεταναστών στην Τουρκία από τα ελληνικά σώματα επιβολής του νόμου και άλλα άτομα

Respect for Human Rights should Prevail over Use of Force

Following yesterday’s fire in Moria, on Lesvos, which destroyed the Reception and Identification Centre, 31 civil society organizations call on the Greek Government to immediately provide assistance to people who lost their shelter. Those affected, among them many children and at-risk groups, must be carefully transferred to safety on the mainland. 

The transfer of at-risk groups, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, people with medical and mental health conditions, and older people should be prioritized. People who tested positive for Covid-19 should be given safe housing for the quarantine period, healthcare, and hospitalization if necessary.

Moving people from Lesvos to mainland Greece requires finding urgent solutions to address the fact that many current housing facilities for refugees and asylum seekers are at full capacity. We urge the Greek authorities to work on a coherent plan that maximises all available resources including those from the EU and we renew our call to European leaders to share the responsibility for the reception and support of asylum seekers now more than ever.

In these difficult times, it is of outmost importance that respect for human rights is at the centre of the response to the fire at Moria, and that authorities do not resort to use of force or inflammatory language, but take appropriate steps to de-escalate any risk of violence.

ActionAid Hellas

Amnesty International

Boat Refugee Foundation

CRWI Diotima 

ECHO100PLUS

ELIX

Equal Rights Beyond Borders

Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid 

Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) 

Hellenic League for Human Rights

Hellenic Platform for Development (Ελληνική Πλατφόρμα για την Ανάπτυξη)

Help Refugees

Hias Greece

HumanRights360

Humanitarian Legal Aid

Human Rights Watch

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

INTERSOS Hellas

Legal Centre Lesvos

Médecins Sans Frontières

Melissa

Network for Children’s Rights

Omnes 

Refugee Legal Support (RLS)

Refugee Rights Europe (RRE)

Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)

Refugee Trauma Initiative

Solidarity Now

Symbiosis-School of Political Studies in Greece

Terre des hommes Hellas

The HOME Project

The Hellenic League for Human Rights is following up with great concern the development of the case of Vassilis Dimakis and demands from the leadership of the Ministry of Civil Protection to find an immediate solution to his legal request for access to education without further risk to his health and life. Vassilis Dimakis, who remains in solitary confinement in the basement of the Korydallos Women’s Prison without the necessary educational means (computer, internet connection) in order to attend his classes at the University, announced on May 24 that he resumes his hunger and thirst strike and that he interrupts even the communication with his lawyer.

In the case of the detained student, the deprivation of his educational rights takes place in derogation from the principle of legality and essentially constitutes the imposition of an additional penalty. Democracy, however, cannot and should not be vindictive. The penitentiary policy of a state governed by the rule of law should not be implemented in terms of human degradation and should not be governed by retaliatory logic. The rights, as rules of individual and collective protection, should be applied for all.

We demand from the competent Ministry to respect the rights of the prisoners, implement the current legislation and make every effort to protect the life of Vassilis Dimakis.

Open letter signed by 121 Organizations

“Protect our laws and humanity!”

Open Letter by 256 Organizations