Legal Centre Lesvos

Legal Centre Lesvos is a not-for-profit organisation established in August 2016 aiming to provide legal assistance, advice and representation for those seeking international protection on the island of Lesvos in Greece. We are a team of lawyers, law graduates and interpreters from across the world who show our solidarity with the refugees of Lesvos and Europe through our legal work.

Our project aims to create meaningful change through advocacy, strategic litigation and engagement with the refugee movement. Our work also provides a wider public benefit by raising awareness across Europe of the realities of refugee and migrant life in Greece, thus combatting marginalization, racism, and xenophobia.

Since opening our doors in 2016, we have assisted with 2,520 cases of individuals and families. So far in 2019, we have assisted with 760 cases.

The refugee crisis may no longer be the focus of international attention but thousands of people are still arriving on the shores of Lesvos seeking international protection. There are currently over 16,000 people trapped on Lesvos, prevented from travelling onwards through Europe. As a result, humanitarian conditions on the islands are worsening. In fact, it is difficult to describe the level of inhumanity people are enduring here. On top of the horrendous conditions, migrants face an uphill legal battle in order to gain legal status and realize basic rights.

Many of those arriving on the shores of Lesvos do so without knowledge of the political and legal framework set up to deny them entry to Europe, or the complexities that characterize the asylum procedures in Greece.

The provision of legal aid is therefore fundamental. We are proud to continue an open-door policy, providing consultations to all those who seek our help. As well as the provision of legal aid, we continue to monitor the actions of the Greek state and EU to document systematic violations and advocate for the rights of migrants in Lesvos through reporting and legal defence.

However, we need your support. Since we opened our doors in Lesvos over three years ago, we have refused funds from States, businesses, and other entities complicit in human rights violations and environmental abuses, and from entities that would compromise our principles of non-discrimination and independence.

Please show your solidarity with migrants on Lesvos and donate to Legal Centre Lesvos so that we can continue our work defending migrants' rights.