Greece: Civil society organisations and migrants’ rights defenders have been under intensified pressure

The report describes the general context of migration management in Greece, characterised by a hardening of policy of border security and deterrence, and by widely used practice of collective pushbacks. Against this backdrop, Greece has also witnessed a marked deterioration in the rule of law and democratic standards affecting civil society broadly, and in particular creating a hostile environment for human rights’ defenders and civil society organisations working on migration.  

The document further focuses on the treatment of migrants’ rights defenders exposing a continuous pattern of pressure, criminal prosecution, administrative intimidation, smear campaigns, restrictive laws, and their misuse to target migrants’ rights defenders - leading to a regime of control and exclusion, according to which defenders are prosecuted for providing humanitarian aid. Panayote Dimitras, as an illustrative example of the difficulties faced due to working on migrants’ human rights, over the past ten years, has dealt with continuous cases of judicial harassment along with smear campaigns intending to his disgrace and work restriction. 

The full text of the report is available in English.