LEGAL SUPPORT & ACCESS TO RIGHTS
Protection begins
with access to justice.
WHY LEGAL SUPPORT MATTERS
Safety, family unity, access to essential services, education, housing, work, even the ability to imagine and plan for a future, can depend on a person’s legal status and their effective access to rights.
Legal support is therefore not simply one service among many. It is often the foundation on which everything else depends: the point at which protection becomes enforceable, rights become accessible, uncertainty begins to give way to stability, and rebuilding a life becomes possible. Since 2018, through our Helpdesk in Athens and Lesvos, we have provided free, independent and individualised legal support to more than 2,500 people throughout the asylum procedures.
WHAT WE DO
LEGAL SUPPORT, FROM FIRST ASSESSMENT TO FINAL OUTCOME.
“Having someone I could trust, who listened, guided me, and stayed by my side, meant everything. I knew I wasn’t alone anymore, and that made all the difference.”
20 y.o mother from Sierra Leone
People seeking protection arrive carrying experiences of war, persecution, displacement, trafficking, violence, torture or other forms of harm. Speaking about these experiences and participating meaningfully in complex legal procedures require time, trust and a safe environment.
Our legal practice is therefore grounded in a trauma-informed, child-sensitive and individualised approach, adapting support to each person’s circumstances, vulnerabilities and protection needs while safeguarding dignity, agency and meaningful participation throughout the legal process.
01
RISK ASSESSMENT & DEVELOPMENT OF A TAILORED ACTION PLAN
Every legal pathway begins with a careful assessment of each person’s circumstances, procedural history, vulnerabilities, protection risks and wider needs, including medical and psychosocial needs. This allows us to identify both the legal issues at stake and the protection and support measures required, and to develop a tailored action plan for each case. As circumstances evolve or new needs emerge, the plan and legal strategy are reviewed and adapted accordingly.
02
LEGAL ASSISTANCE & REPRESENTATION
We provide free and individualised legal assistance throughout the asylum procedures to unaccompanied children, mothers raising children on their own, and vulnerable families and/or young adults. This includes tailored legal information on each person’s rights and legal options; representation at first instance; and the drafting and submission of legal memoranda and reports.Where an asylum claim is rejected, we provide legal support throughout the appeal process, as well as in subsequent applications and family reunification procedures where relevant.
Individualised legal assistance is essential to meaningful access to asylum. Every claim is shaped by a person’s individual history, circumstances and protection grounds. By gathering supporting evidence and relevant Country of Origin Information (COI), and translating these into a substantiated legal case, we help ensure that each person’s circumstances are properly presented and considered throughout the procedure.
03
CASE MANAGEMENT & ACCESS TO RIGHTS
Our support does not stop with the asylum procedure. We support people navigate the administrative and practical barriers that can affect their protection and access to essential rights. This includes assistance with documentation and administrative procedures, referrals to medical, psychosocial and other specialised services, and coordination with the authorities and professionals involved in each case.
When a person’s rights or protection needs require further action, we intervene with the relevant authorities and bodies, including, where appropriate, the Juvenile Prosecutor and the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights and follow the case until the issue is addressed.
04
CONTINUOUS FOLLOW-UP
Legal support does not end after a meeting or a procedural step. We remain in regular contact with the people we support, reassessing their situation as their case develops and adapting the legal strategy and action plan when new information, risks or needs emerge. Many people are transferred between facilities or move to different parts of Greece while their procedures are still ongoing. We continue to follow their cases across these changes, maintaining regular check-ins, providing remote legal support where needed, coordinating referrals and following up with the relevant authorities and services. In this way, we remain a consistent point of reference throughout an often complex and changing process.
Providing free and individualised legal support in Athens and Lesvos since 2018.
FROM FRONTLINE EXPERIENCE TO EVIDENCE
What happens when protection exists in law, but remains out of reach in practice?
CAN YOU SEE US? brings together lived experiences from Greece’s asylum and reception system, documenting the conditions, procedural barriers and gaps in legal protection that shape the lives of children, young people and families seeking safety.
Click to read the full report
