In its submission to the 2022 Rule of Law Report of the European Commission, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) highlights developments and persisting concerns relating to the rule of law through the lens of the Greek asylum system.

Despite legislative commitments in 2019 to promote better regulation, the Greek government continues to regularly use ‘omnibus’ legislation, to introduce last-minute amendments in unrelated bills, and to disregard concerns and recommendations from international bodies and civil society.

Lawyers, journalists working on asylum have been increasingly targeted through surveillance, intimidation and even violence.

The NGO Registry of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum is not implemented in a fair, transparent and consistent manner. 115 organisations have had their applications rejected. In RSA’s case, registration was arbitrarily rejected on the ground that provision of assistance to persons under deportation contravenes Greek law. Judicial review of the refusal and of the legal framework is pending before the Council of State.