Joint Statement by 56 Civil Society Organizations
We join 56 other civil society organizations in condemning the proposed changes to the migration bill.
The amendments to Articles 24 and 25 would effectively criminalize individuals solely for their employment with, or membership in, an organization registered in the Ministry of Migration and Asylum’s NGO Registry. In addition, the mere initiation of criminal proceedings could lead to an organization’s removal from the Registry.
This comes despite five consecutive years of recommendations from the EU, the Council of Europe, and the UN urging Greece to lift arbitrary restrictions on civil society organizations supporting refugees and migrants.
For the undersigned organizations, these provisions are unjust, unlawful, and deeply concerning. We call for their immediate withdrawal, to safeguard the ability of civil society to operate and protect children in need.
Read the full joint statement below:
Joint Statement by Civil Society Organizations on the Ministry of Migration’s Draft Law
Athens, 20 January 2026: The proposed amendments to Articles 24 and 25 of the migration bill effectively criminalize individuals solely on the basis of their employment with, or membership in, an organization registered in the Ministry of Migration and Asylum’s NGO Registry.
This development comes despite five consecutive years of recommendations from the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations calling on Greece to lift arbitrary restrictions on the work of civil society organizations supporting refugees and migrants. Instead of complying with these recommendations, the Ministry continues to single out organizations it considers inconvenient, simply because they carry out their legitimate work.
Under the proposed provisions, the mere fact of being affiliated with a registered organization is treated as an aggravating circumstance. As a result, offences such as facilitating irregular stay or refusing to surrender a travel document are upgraded from misdemeanors to felonies, carrying prison sentences of up to ten years and fines amounting to tens of thousands of euros. In effect, the declared and officially approved exercise of the fundamental right to freedom of association is used to justify harsher criminal liability, in clear contradiction to core principles of criminal justice and legislative proportionality. Moreover, the initiation of criminal proceedings alone would be sufficient to remove an organization from the NGO Registry.
These measures are clearly intended to intimidate. They are being introduced just months after public threats made by the Minister of Migration and Asylum against the legal representatives of individuals who arrived in Crete during the unlawful three-month suspension of access to asylum. Those individuals were protected from deportation through interim measures ordered by the European Court of Human Rights. The Minister’s statements were immediately condemned by both national and international institutions, yet he has refused to retract them.
For the undersigned organizations, this attempt is unjust, unlawful, and deeply concerning. We call for the immediate withdrawal of these provisions.
The undersigned Civil Society Organizations
- ΒΙΟΖΩ - Πανελλήνια Ένωση Καταναλωτών
- Γιατροί του Κόσμου - Ελληνική Αντιπροσωπεία
- Γιατροί Χωρίς Σύνορα - Ελληνικό Τμήμα
- Γυναικεία Ομάδα Αυτοάμυνας
- Ελληνικό Δίκτυο για το Δικαίωμα στη Στέγη και την Κατοικία
- Ελληνική Ένωση για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου (ΕλΕΔΑ)
- Ελληνικό Παρατηρητήριο των Συμφωνιών του Ελσίνκι
- Ελληνικό Φόρουμ Μεταναστών
- Ελληνικό Φόρουμ Προσφύγων
- Ελληνικό Συμβούλιο για τους Πρόσφυγες (ΕΣΠ)
- Ένωση Μικρομεσαίων Ο.Κοι.Π. Ελλάδας
- Κέντρο Διοτίμα
- Μέλισσα Δίκτυο Μεταναστριών στην Ελλάδα
- Παρατηρητήριο Αστυνομικής Βίας - Copwatch GR
- ΠΕΚΑμεΑ
- Συμβίωση - Σχολή Πολιτικών Σπουδών στην Ελλάδα, Δίκτυο Σχολών του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης
- Σύμπλεξις
- Σύνδεσμος Αντιρρησιών Συνείδησης
- Υποστήριξη Προσφύγων στο Αιγαίο (RSA)
- ART HUB Athens
- Boat Refugee Foundation
- Changemakers Lab
- Civil Society Alliance Greece
- Collective Aid
- Community Peacemaker Teams-Aegean Migrant Solidarity
- ECHO100PLUS
- Emfasis Non-Profit
- EmpowerVan
- Equal Legal Aid (ELA)
- Equal Rights Beyond Borders
- FemArtAct
- Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid
- HIAS Ελλάδος
- HIGGS
- Human Rights Legal Project
- The HOME Project
- I Have Rights
- Inter Alia
- InterMediaKT
- Intereuropean Human Aid Association
- INTERSOS HELLAS
- Irida Women’s Center
- iSea
- Legal Centre Lesvos
- Mazí Housing
- Mobile Info Team
- Nimertis Action Art
- Northern Lights Aid
- PRAKSIS
- Project Armonia
- Reading to the Others
- Safe Passage International Greece
- Samos Volunteers
- SHE - Society for Help and Empowerment
- Velos Youth
- Vouliwatch