Integration and Social Rights

According to law, after being granted international protection a refugee gains almost the same rights as a Greek citizen. However, in practise they still face significant challenges such as lack of effective national integration programme and persistent barriers and discrimination regarding access to basic social rights.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of refugees face the prospect of homelessness and destitution following the recent amendment to the controversial International Protection Act (IPA)

RSA and PRO ASYL have supported litigation challenging the returns of recognized refugees to Greece from countries such as Germany and Switzerland. In a recent third-party intervention before the European Court of Human Rights, the two organisations also analysed current practice and obstacles encountered by beneficiaries of international protection in the areas of housing, employment, social welfare and health care, including from the perspective of persons returned from other European countries.

Asylum-seekers in Greece face a series of challenges in relation to their access to, social, cultural and economic rights and face chronic obstacles to access free public health care whilst thousands of children in the hotspots also continue not having access to education.

  • All
  • Asylum seekers
  • Quality of the asylum procedure
  • Recognised refugees

30 Mar: Systemic deficiencies in the access of beneficiaries of international protection to documents and socio-economic rights

Systemic deficiencies in the access of beneficiaries of international protection to documents and socio-economic rights

21 Mar: Refugee women in the offside

Greece encampment policy and services takeover lead to isolation and deny protection

20 Mar: Punitive bill for asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors

RSA’s Comments on the draft Immigration Code

27 Oct: Refugees without identification documents

The Greek Asylum Service must urgently resolve technical problems

26 Oct: Refugee residence permit renewal applications pending for over a year at the Greek Asylum Service

Refugees receiving protection in Greece and those returned thereto from other European countries continue to face prolonged delays in the renewal of their residence permits.

13 Oct: European countries carry on with deportations of recognised refugees to Greece – returns in figures

Nearly 100 recognised refugees have been deported to Greece in the first half of 2022

06 Oct: Deported to destitution

Refugee women remain undocumented four months after return from Sweden to Greece

14 Jul: The new “Cartoneros” of Athens

Mini documentary, briefing, stories of four families of recognised refugees in Greece and photos about The Cartoneros of Athens

31 Mar: Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece | Report

The updated report on the situation of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, published today by RSA and Stiftung PRO ASYL, highlights chronic legal and practical barriers excluding them from the basic documents and socio-economic rights needed to rebuild their lives.

04 Mar: Recognised refugee returned to Greece, destitute, forgotten and undocumented

Farhad*, a 31-year-old recognised refugee, was returned from Germany to Greece at the beginning of July 2021 after spending more than five years in Germany waiting for his asylum claim to be processed.

23 Dec: Refugees in Greece experience third month of humanitarian crisis and hunger

Despite constant appeals from humanitarian organisations and dozens of media reports regarding the economic impasse faced by thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in Greece in recent months, the problem has not been solved.

28 Jul: The first round of computer collection for refugee children is completed – We have collected 15 devices

WE ARE DEEPLY THANKFUL – Update on the collection of computers for refugee children

14 May: Donate your old laptop to a child refugee

We are collecting old laptops, of the past 8 years, and to distribute them to refugee children, thus enabling them to attend educational classes remotely

13 Apr: Excluded and Segregated | The vanishing education of refugee children in Greece

Excluded and Segregated The vanishing education of refugee children in Greece​ Excluded and Segregated The vanishing education of refugee children…

13 Apr: Executive summary: Excluded and Segregated. The vanishing education of refugee children in Greece

In a report titled “Excluded and Segregated. The vanishing education of refugee children in Greece”, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) tracks…

30 Mar: Greek family law reform puts victims of domestic violence at high risk

The Ministry failed to pay due regard to vulnerable categories of children that will be affected by the provisions such as asylum seekers and refugees

22 Mar: Beneficiaries of international protection in Greece | Access to documents and socio-economic rights

This Legal Note provides up-to-date information on the situation of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece, including readmitted status holders from other European countries, drawing on a third party intervention submitted on 24 February 2021 by Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) and Stiftung PRO ASYL in the case of Alaa Asaad v. the Netherlands before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

18 Mar: Repercussions for the children of the “Deal” | EU-Turkey “deal”: 5 Years of Shame

Four experts present the impact of confinement on the mental health, rights and life of the “children of the deal”.

21 Jan: Open letter to Mr Notis Mitarakis Minister of Migration and Asylum

Athens, 21 January 2020 Dear Minister, With this letter, the below signatory humanitarian, human rights and protection organizations would like…

09 Jan: Returned recognized refugees face a dead-end in Greece

PROTECTION FOR RECOGNIZED REFUGEES IN GREECE REMAINS IN PAPER In June 2017, Refugee Support Aegean (RSA)/ PRO ASYL published a…

16 Feb: Majority of refugee children in the Aegean Islands Hot Spots are excluded from education

Despite the Government announcements that it will ensure access to education for all refugee children living in Greece, the majority…

23 Jan: LEGAL AID (INDIVIDUAL LEGAL REPRESENTATION IN ASYLUM/REFUGEE CONTEXT) FOR MIGRANTS, ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES IN GREECE: CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS

By the Legal Aid Actors Task Force, January 2018 The following observations are drawn from the experience of 14 organisations assisting…

26 Jun: Legal Note: Rights and effective protection exist only on paper

Photo:  RSA/giorgos moutafis The current living conditions of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece are alarming, as beneficiaries do not only…