The Greek government has introduced an immigration bill with measures that explicitly link nongovernmental groups and humanitarian workers with criminal conduct, when in reality they are helping people in distress trying to reach Greece.
The bill would amend the migration code to make membership in a nongovernmental group an aggravating factor for several existing offenses, with draconian penalties. For members of an nongovernmental group it imposes a minimum of 10 years in prison and a €50,000 fine for facilitating illegal entry or exit; upgrades transportation of an undocumented migrant from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by at least 10 years and a minimum €60,000 fine per person; and turns facilitating unlawful stay into a felony punishable by up to 10 years.
The bill is being introduced just as a seven-year legal battle concluded in January with the full acquittal of 24 aid workers who were baselessly charged with felonies for their life-saving search and rescue operations.
By singling out and imposing harsher penalties on aid workers, the bill stigmatizes humanitarian work and could deter groups from providing life-saving support.
The Migration Minister would also be able to remove an organization from the official registry based solely on a criminal prosecution against a member. Without registration, an organization cannot effectively operate in Greece. Greece’s existing burdensome registration framework for nongovernmental groups, introduced in 2020, has been criticized by the Council of Europe and UN special rapporteurs.
The bill also creates a new registry that would require the certification of all employees and volunteers of these groups. The bill effectively grants the minister broad power to decide what “certification” entails and to set the conditions at their own discretion. Furthermore, the authorities could revoke the residence permits of legal residents who are members of these groups based solely on being a “suspected perpetrator,” bypassing the presumption of innocence.
These proposed measures constitute an unjustified interference with protected rights including the freedom of association, violating Greece’s international and regional rights obligations. In March 2023, the UN special rapporteur Mary Lawlor noted that aid workers in Greece face the misuse of criminal law to a “shocking degree.” This bill codifies that harassment.
The law should protect those who provide humanitarian assistance, rather than providing authorities with tools to prosecute them. Parliament should reject these abusive provisions and ensure that any new legislation protects civic space.
