ATHENS, July 16, 2025 —We, the undersigned civil society organisations, condemn the unlawful and impermissible legislative provision adopted by the Hellenic Parliament on Friday 11 July 2025 (Article 79 of Law 5218/2025) which imposes a three-month suspension on the making of asylum applications for people arriving in Greece from North Africa and orders their immediate deportation without registration.
The right to seek asylum and protection from refoulement are fundamental principles that may never be restricted. Both are enshrined in international and EU law instruments that supersede any domestic legislative provision, as already highlighted by reputable institutions at Greek and international level, including the Greek Ombudsman, the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, the Union of Greek Administrative Judges, the Plenary of Greek Bar Associations, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and UNHCR.
We call on the Greek government to immediately withdraw this unlawful legislative provision and on the European Commission to take urgent measures to enforce EU law and to immediately put an end to its infringement, in line with its responsibilities under the Treaties.
The undersigned organisations:
- Action for Women
- aditus foundation
- Albanian Migrants Association “Mother Teresa”
- Amnesty International
- Associazione Ricreativa e Culturale Italiana (ARCI)
- Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI)
- Avocats Sans Frontières France
- Boat Refugee Foundation
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
- Changemakers Lab
- Collective Aid
- Cyprus Refugee Council (CyRC)
- Defence for Children International Greece
- Diotima Centre
- Doctors Without Borders – Greek Section
- Dynamo International Social Street Workers Network
- ECHO100PLUS
- Emantes – International LGBTQIA+ Solidarity
- EmpowerVan
- Equal Legal Aid (ELA)
- Equal Rights Beyond Borders
- EuroMed Rights
- European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
- European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL)
- Faros
- Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid
- Fondation pour la Promotion des Droits en Algérie
- Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)
- Greek Forum of Migrants
- Greek Forum of Refugees
- Greek Housing Network
- Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR)
- HIAS Greece
- Human Rights Association (IHD)
- Human Rights Watch (HRW)
- The HOME Project
- Human Rights Legal Project
- I Have Rights
- InterEuropean Human Aid Association
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- International Rescue Committee (IRC) Hellas
- INTERSOS HELLAS
- Irida Women’s Centre
- Iridia Association – Centre for the Defence of Humans Rights
- Ithaca Laundry
- Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe
- Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Greece
- Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Portugal
- KISA Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism
- Legal Centre Lesvos
- Lighthouse Relief
- Médecins du Monde International
- Migrant Voice
- Mobile Info Team
- Network for Children’s Rights
- Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
- Pope John XXIII Community
- PRAKSIS
- PRO ASYL
- Project Armonia
- Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)
- Refugees International
- Refugees Welcome, Denmark
- Safe Passage International Greece
- Samos Volunteers
- Save the Children
- Second Tree
- Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes España
- Symbiosis-Council of Europe School of Political Studies
- Terre des hommes Hellas
- Velos Youth Centre
- Vouliwatch
The statement will remain open for additional signatures until Friday 18 July 2025 at 11.00 CET. Contact details: Spyros-Vlad Oikonomou (s.oikonomou@gcr.gr); Minos Mouzourakis (m.mouzourakis@rsaegean.org).
