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Legal Centre Lesvos

Lesvos, Greece
Joined October 2023

Since August 2016, providing free legal aid to migrants, fighting and advocating for rights of people on the move, and through strategic litigation seeking to keep institutions accountable.

Presence in: Greece
Focus: Children's Rights, Community Organizing, Criminal Justice, Disability Rights, Environmental Justice, Ethnic / Religious Minorities' Rights, Gender-based violence, Housing Rights & Informal Settlements, LGBTQI+ Rights, Policy Advocacy, Refugees & Migrant Rights, Right to Information, Women's Rights

WHO WE ARE

The Legal Centre Lesvos AMKE is a civil non-profit organisation registered in Greece and previously operative as a restricted fund under the auspices of Prism the Gift Fund (UK). The Legal Centre Lesvos is a member organisation of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH) and is partnered with the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL).

Since August 2016, we provide free and individual legal information and assistance to migrants who arrived by sea to Lesvos, where our office is based. Besides this continuous and direct support, the Legal Centre also works towards collective justice and structural change as part of local and international movements, including through advocacy and strategic litigation: documenting violations of migrants’ rights and engaging in advocacy and strategic litigation to hold the Greek government, Member States of the EU, and European institutions to account. In addition, we advocate for equal access to safe and legal routes of migration in Greece, Europe and globally.

For Legal Centre Lesvos publications, see our Report and Newsletter Archive.

Towards a principled stance on the refugee question

The Legal Centre does not see itself as a provider of humanitarian assistance for the refugee population.  We believe in solidarity, not charity. We are a legal and political project which aims to create meaningful change through advocacy, strategic litigation and engagement with the refugee movement.

With this in mind, the Legal Centre adopts the following principles which guide our work in Lesvos;

  • Defend the right to asylum and expand its definition to include at the very least the concepts of environmental and economic refugees
  • Oppose the racist concept of Fortress Europe and the growing fascist movements which embrace it
  • Oppose the EU Turkey deal and all deals which seek to send asylum applicants to third countries outside of the EU