Press Releases

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

Athens, 21 January 2020

Athens, 15 January 2020

In recent weeks, the Racist Violence Recording Network (RVRN) has witnessed an increasing number of xenophobic and racist incidents,

We, the undersigned organizations working in the area of human rights, express our gravest concerns regarding the recent arrests in Istanbul of over 6,000 migrants and refugees, among whom Syrian refugees.

On  June 30, Carola Rackete, captain of the Sea-Watch 3 rescue boat, disembarked 42 people to Lampedusa. People who had  fled Libya and were rescued in the Mediterranean

13/9/2018

19 NGOs decry conditions at the site, now worse than ever, and call for sustainable solutions to both decongest the islands and improve conditions across first receptions centres in North Aegean Sea.

12/10/2017

As we mark Israel’s 50th year of occupation of the Palestinian Territory this year, Israel continues to violate international law and Palestinian human rights without accountability.