Greek authorities threaten to remove some migrants’ rights NGOs from the official registry of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, posing serious obstacles to the capacity of civil society actors to operate and defend the rights of migrants and asylum seekers, and thereby shrinking civic space. Greek authorities have already, since 2020, introduced legislation that imposes burdensome financial requirements and controls, such as intrusive audits, that undermine NGOs’ independence and capacity to operate. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a partnership of FIDH and OMCT), expresses its deep concern over the ongoing restrictions and the Greek government’s systematic shrinking of NGOs’ independence and ability to work on migration issues. The Observatory calls on the Greek government to immediately halt legislative and administrative measures aimed at removing NGOs from the official Ministry of Migration and Asylum registry and rescind any politically motivated allegations that hinder NGO’s human rights work.
Paris, Geneva, 25 September 2025. Greek authorities are threatening to remove NGOs from the official registry of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, in ways that undermine the operational capacities of organisations legitimately challenging government migration policies through legal channels, such as by assisting migrants and asylum seekers.
The NGO register, established in 2020 under Law 4686/2020, is mandatory for all organisations active in Reception and Identification Centers (R.I.C.). However, the Ministry of Migration and Asylum is granted discretionary powers to remove NGOs from the registry, on the basis of vague and politically motivated criteria. Although removal from the Ministry’s register does not dissolve an NGO, it terminates its access to facilities housing migrants. Since only registered organisations - currently nearly 110 - can access these facilities, expelled NGOs become isolated, drastically limiting their ability to operate.
Different non-governmental organisations active in the field of asylum and human rights in Greece have repeatedly challenged unlawful government policies through legitimate judicial proceedings. Their actions included overturning the Joint Ministerial Decision that designated Turkey as a "safe third country" for asylum seekers, as well as supporting victims of the unlawful pushback practices of the Greek authorities before the European Court of Human Rights, including the landmark case A.R.E. v. Greece. This case led to Greece’s first conviction for “systemic pushbacks of asylum seekers ” in January 2025, with the Court finding that Greek authorities engage in widespread pushbacks violating fundamental human rights.
In early July 2025, non-governmental organisations in Greece further opposed the national migration management strategy and represented asylum seekers being barred from the asylum procedure and subject to illegal detention and subsequent deportation procedures before the Athens Administrative Court seeking the annulment of administrative decisions that were issued following the recent emergency amendments aiming to address migration pressure in Crete. These appeals from the NGOs were interpreted by the government as "not simply criticism, but act as a mechanism for challenging the basic pillars of national migration policy”.
The Greek authorities have developed an extremely hostile narrative towards these organisations, labelling human rights organisations as ‘political opponents’ who ‘endanger the sovereignty of the State’, reinforced by defamatory press articles repeating this narrative. The Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, in particular, accuses certain NGOs of hiding behind the label of "humanitarian action" to adopt the role of political opponents, challenging and attempting to overturn fundamental national policy choices in court.
The Ministry of Migration and Asylum has also announced that it will initiate management audit controls to ensure full financial transparency of migrants’ rights and asylum support NGOs. Emergency inspections are announced for NGOs registered with the Ministry and involved in its programs, to verify that the funds they receive are being used for their intended purposes. Although the Ministry of Migration and Asylum presents the new management audit as a step toward financial transparency, the initiative raises concerns that it serves more as a mechanism wrongly weaponising administrative procedures as a tool of silencing. These threats of withdrawing public funding contributes to the generalisation of a hostile narrative against migrants rights NGOs in the country.
By contrast, it must be underlined that litigation brought by NGOs is not an act of confrontation, but the use of legal and legitimate mechanisms to uphold fundamental rights. Far from weakening the State, such actions fall within the broader exercise of freedom of association and contribute to preserving civic space and the rule of law.
The Observatory expresses deep concern over the potential removal of NGOs working with migrants and asylum seekers from the Ministry’s official register. It calls on the Greek government to rescind alleged allegations that label NGOs as “political opponents” or allege “misuse of funds” on vague or politically motivated grounds, and guarantee that any financial oversight is conducted in accordance with established public-audit standards and not as a reprisal tool against NGOs human rights work. Greece’s campaign against civil society organisations working on migration violates international and European legal standards. Discriminatory and burdensome registration requirements and threats of de-registration create a chilling effect that restricts NGOs’ ability to provide crucial assistance to asylum seekers and migrants.
The Observatory recalls that several European governments have adopted similar measures to weaken the role and obstruct the work of civil society organisations, which in turn ends up undermining their essential role in a democratic society. Some worrying developments are also ongoing at the European Union level, with threats against environmental NGOs benefiting from the LIFE programme.
The systematic targeting of NGOs defending migrants’ rights through vague allegations, politically motivated accusations, and burdensome financial audits violates the right to freedom of association and severely restricts civil society’s ability to provide vital assistance to migrants and asylum seekers, isolating NGOs from necessary access and resources. The Observatory urgently calls on the Greek government to immediately halt legislative and administrative measures aimed at removing NGOs from the official Ministry of Migration and Asylum registry and to stop using the NGO registry as a tool for politically motivated restrictions and intimidation of organisations defending the rights of migrants and asylum seekers.
