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March 17, 2022 News

A Ray of Hope in Fight Against Greece’s Border Abuses

Human Rights Court Warns Against Summary Removal of Asylum Seeker

Those of us working to defend the rights of asylum seekers and migrants in the European Union know how hard it is to fight against abuses taking place at external borders. We also know that small victories can make a real difference. A recent…

March 3, 2022 News

Greece Should Know that Refugees Can Come from Anywhere

Solidarity for Ukraine Ignores Greece’s Harsh Treatment of Others in Need

Ukrainians are the “real refugees,” Greece's migration minister, Notis Mitarachi, declared on March 1 before the Hellenic Parliament. What he was trying to say was that the people fleeing devastating conflict and persecution in Afghanistan, Syria, and…

A dinghy with migrants, left, with Turkish ships in the background, in the narrow stretch of water between the eastern Greek island of Lesbos and the Turkish coast on April 2, 2021.

March 10, 2021 News

Frontex Turns a Blind Eye to Greece’s Border Abuses

Internal Inquiry Only Exposed Tip of the Iceberg

An internal probe looking into allegations that the EU border patrol agency, Frontex, is involved in, among other abuses, pushbacks of asylum seekers and migrants at Greece’s sea border with Turkey, raises questions about its willingness or…

An officer from the European Union’s border protection agency, Frontex, holds the arm of a migrant as they board a ferry in the port of Mytilini, Lesbos island, Greece, on Friday, April 8, 2016.

January 20, 2021 News

Interview: Hard-Won Victories for Refugees in Greece

How Ten Years of Advocacy and Incremental Changes Add Up

In Greece, a recent high-profile court ruling and policy change mark momentous human rights victories for migrants and children. On October 7, an Athens court ruled that the country’s far-right xenophobic political party, Golden Dawn, whose members…

A woman sits with her children in Victoria Square in Athens, Greece, awaiting transfer after being evicted from their place of residence, July 20, 2020.

November 19, 2020 News

Pushbacks in Greek Waters Put Lives at Risk

Border Patrol Agency has a Duty to Protect Human Rights

Mounting evidence suggests the Greek government has been secretly expelling thousands of migrants trying to reach its shores. An EUObserver article published on November 18 also suggests the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) is aware of…

October 7, 2020 News

Finally, Good News for Asylum Seekers in Italy

New Decree Rolls Back Some of the Worst Aspects of Immigration Policy

It pledged last year to do so, and now the Italian government has restored some humanity to its immigration and asylum system. This week, the council of ministers adopted a decree that reverses many of the worst policies imposed by the previous…

Italians and asylum seekers from the local specialized reception center work together to clear debris after floods in Belluno, Italy, November 2018.

September 22, 2020 News

European Commission Should Defend Asylum Seekers' Rights

Groups File Complaint Against Abusive Migrant Pushbacks, Asylum Law in Greece

What will it take for the European Commission, as the guardian of European Union law, to use its enforcement powers against Greece over its treatment of migrants and asylum seekers? That’s the question at the heart of Oxfam and WeMove Europe’s…

The Greek Coast Guard has been accused of using rescue equipment - namely inflatable, motorless life rafts - to leave asylum seekers and migrants adrift in open water close to the Turkish sea border. May 25, 2020

August 21, 2020 News

Greece Is Still Denying Migrant Pushbacks

Prime Minister Denies Growing Evidence of Abuses by Coast Guard and Border Police

There is mounting evidence that the Greek government has in recent months secretly expelled thousands of migrants trying to reach its shores. But in a recent interview with CNN, Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, denied the allegations once…

August 20, 2020 News

From Chaos in Moria to Despair in Athens, Greece

Refugees Live Rough on the Streets of Central Athens

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Greek government announced that it was throwing more than 11,000 refugees out on the street, including families with children, pregnant women, and women who are alone in Greece, as well as people with…

June 1, 2020 News

Boys’ Drawings Expose Greece’s Broken Detention System

Plight of Unaccompanied Migrant Children Is Focus of New Campaign

Ibrahim, a 14-year-old boy from Somalia, was detained by Greek police for almost three months at a detention center in Amygdaleza, a police-run detention facility on the outskirts of Athens, which houses adults but has a dedicated section for…

Drawing by "Ibrahim," age 14, detained for 11 weeks. Drawing titled, "Life in and After Detention"

May 12, 2020 News

Lockdown Should Not Discriminate Against Migrants, Refugees

Greece Extends Covid-19 Lockdown at Refugee Camps

The Greek government has begun easing lockdown measures, given the country’s success in keeping Covid-19 under control. Starting last week, people could leave their homes without authorization, most shops have re-opened, and older…

April 7, 2020 News

Soap: Refugees Need it Too

Basic Hygiene Not Only for Public Health But a Human Right

Soap, now more than ever, is a central part of our daily lives. But not for many refugees. I’ve been in refugee camps worldwide. This they all have in common: refugees make great efforts to keep clean, but often lack these…

People in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos wait to use one of the few overcrowded water stations in the camp.

April 3, 2020 News

The Coronavirus in Europe: From Lockdowns to Power Grabs

COVID-19 in Europe, the Central Eurasian Region, and Turkey

What are some of your biggest concerns about the coronavirus moving through Europe and Central Asia? Europe is one of the world’s epicenters of COVID-19 cases. There’s an awful death toll in Italy and Spain with the numbers of dead going up…

Military police officers patrol at a market in Budapest, Hungary, March 31, 2020.

March 16, 2020 News

Greek Vessel Takes Syrians, Afghans to Closed Camp

Authorities State Intention to Bar from Asylum, Deport New Arrivals to Turkey

On Saturday, I sat feeling helpless as I tracked a Greek naval vessel leaving Mytilene harbor on the island of Lesbos to an unknown destination. A Syrian asylum seeker who I have been in touch with for the past two weeks was on that…

Greek naval vessel holding newly arrived asylum seekers and migrants, shortly after departing Mytilene harbor, March 14, 2020.

March 6, 2020 News

Interview: What’s Happening to Refugees in Greece

How has the situation on Lesbos changed since your last visit? When I was here in 2016, I couldn’t imagine things being worse. We saw a lawless situation in Moria refugee camp. There were around 6,000 people in the camp,…

Migrants who arrived yesterday to Greece from Turkey eat bread as they try to warm themselves at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos on Friday, March 6, 2020.

February 18, 2020 News

EU Turns Its Back on Migrants in Distress

New Naval Mission Designed to Avoid Sea Rescues

It is a craven, indefensible choice. Yesterday, European Union foreign ministers agreed to launch a mission in the Mediterranean Sea to enforce the United Nations-mandated Libyan arms embargo on the condition that it not focus on saving…

Migrants are transfered by Italian sailors from the German combat supply ship 'Frankfurt am Main' to the their ship 'Grecale' after being rescued during EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, March 29, 2016.

September 5, 2019 News

Italy’s New Government Should Undo Its Worst Migration Policies

Chance to Implement Humane Approach

Italy’s new coalition government, fragile as it may be, presents a chance for the country to move away from migration policies that put lives at risk and back to those grounded in respect for human rights, including the right to life.…

Migrants are crowded together on deck of the rescue ship "Eleonore" as it seaches for a safe port in the Mediterranean.

July 3, 2019 News

The Greek Islands’ Forgotten Emergency

Neglect Exposes Asylum Seekers to Abuse

With national elections coming up in less than a week in Greece, the widespread public debate about the country’s economy and future is not surprising. Unfortunately, other important issues are not getting the same attention. …

A Syrian man reads inside his tent at a makeshift camp outside Moria on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece.

December 20, 2018 News

Déjà vu on the Greek-Turkey Border

Long Past Time to Put an End to Brutal Treatment of Migrants, Asylum Seekers

Ten years ago, I documented a systematic pattern of brutal Greek border police pushbacks of migrants and asylum seekers at the Evros River border that divides Greece and Turkey. Last week, as I edited a new Human Rights Watch report, I…

Migrants that crossed the land border between Greece and Turkey are seen at the Pre-Removal Detention Center in the village of Fylakio, Northern Greece, February 24, 2017.

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