The Ministry of Migration and Asylum must rescind the eviction order of people on the move from camps

11.06.2025

In ear­ly May, Greek media repor­ted that the Minis­try of Migra­ti­on and Asyl­um issued a ver­bal direc­ti­ve to the aut­ho­ri­ties of refu­gee camps across Greece to evict bene­fi­ci­a­ries of Inter­na­tio­nal Pro­tec­tion as well as rejec­ted asyl­um see­kers from their faci­li­ties. No gui­dance on alter­na­ti­ve accom­mo­da­ti­on solu­ti­ons was provided.

Out­side of sta­te faci­li­ties, opti­ons for sup­port and alter­na­ti­ve accom­mo­da­ti­on are limi­t­ed. Pre­vious­ly fil­ling cri­ti­cal gaps in sta­te sup­port, NGOs — inclu­ding tho­se pro­vi­ding accom­mo­da­ti­on — now face struc­tu­ral fun­ding and capa­ci­ty cuts, while the strict eli­gi­bi­li­ty requi­re­ments of muni­ci­pal shel­ters mean they remain inac­ces­si­ble for peo­p­le on the move.

As a result, camp evic­tions risk pla­cing many into sta­tes of home­l­ess­ness and desti­tu­ti­on, and car­ry the asso­cia­ted risk of expo­sure to retrau­ma­tis­a­ti­on, explo­ita­ti­on, human traf­fi­cking and poli­ce vio­lence. The Minis­try­’s direc­ti­ve con­se­quent­ly risks threa­tening the pro­tec­tion of indi­vi­du­als’ safe­ty and secu­ri­ty, and of their fun­da­men­tal rights, inclu­ding human dignity.

The under­si­gned orga­ni­sa­ti­ons call on the Minis­try of Migra­ti­on and Asylum:

  • To rescind the evic­tion order of peo­p­le on the move from camps;

  • To ensu­re that if peo­p­le are remo­ved, this hap­pens only whe­re they have secu­red a safe and appro­pria­te housing alter­na­ti­ve that gua­ran­tees they will not end up desti­tu­te and home­l­ess and enables them to access their rights in a man­ner that respects their human dignity;

  • To imple­ment a sus­tainable and digni­fied frame­work of sup­port and inte­gra­ti­on that ensu­res appro­pria­te accom­mo­da­ti­on for peo­p­le on the move, wha­te­ver their legal sta­tus, during, and after their stay in tem­po­ra­ry recep­ti­on facilities.

Signa­to­ries: 

  • Arsis Asso­cia­ti­on for the Social Sup­port of Youth

  • Avo­cats Sans Fron­tiè­res France

  • Bet­ter Days Greece

  • Boat Refu­gee Foundation

  • Chan­ge­ma­kers Lab

  • Coll­ec­ti­ve Aid

  • Defence for Children

  • Dra­pen i Havet

  • Dra­pen i Havet Stagona

  • ECHO100PLUS

  • Empower­Van

  • Equal Legal Aid

  • Equal Rights Bey­ond Borders

  • Fenix — Huma­ni­ta­ri­an Legal Aid

  • Greek Coun­cil for Refugees

  • Greek Forum of Migrants

  • Greek Forum of Refugees

  • HIAS Greece

  • Human Rights Legal Project

  • I Have Rights

  • INTERSOS HELLAS

  • Legal Cent­re Lesvos

  • Love Wit­hout Bor­ders for Refu­gees in Need

  • Mobi­le Info Team

  • MKO Mera­ki Huma­ni­ta­ri­an Support

  • NAOMI Ecu­me­ni­cal Work­shop for Refugees

  • Net­work for Children’s Rights

  • Pro­ject Armonia

  • Ref­check­point

  • Refu­gee Legal Support

  • Safe Place Greece

  • Samos Vol­un­teers

  • Second Tree

  • Sym­bio­sis-Coun­cil of Euro­pe School of Poli­ti­cal Studies

  • Γιατροί Χωρίς Σύνορα-Ελληνικό Τμήμα / Doc­tors Wit­hout Bor­ders-Greek Section

 

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