Joint letter to:

The Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi

The Alternate Minister of Migration and Asylum, Giorgos Koumoutsakos

The European Commissioner for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová

The President of the Expert Council on NGO Law of the Council of Europe,  Jeremy McBride

The President of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, Anna Rurka

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and  of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González  Morales

The undersigned organisations welcome the ‘Opinion on the Compatibility with European Standards of Recent and Planned Amendments to the Greek Legislation on NGO Registration’ from the Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe (hereafter Expert Council). (1)

The organisations appreciate the efforts of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum to centralize the registration of organisations active in the field of international protection, migration, asylum, and social integration of third-country nationals, but endorse the recommendation that current legislation “should be substantially revised so that they are brought into line with European standards”. (2)

The Expert Council expressed their concern that the registration and certification procedure creates unnecessary and disproportional barriers to the work of NGOs and impedes freedom of association. (3)

This could have a chilling effect on civil society and potentially 3 create a “worrying humanitarian situation” as organisations cover existing gaps in the provision of services, protection, health, and the monitoring of human rights.(4)

These concerns 4 are not unfounded; a recent announcement by the Minister of Migration and Asylum made clear that after the registration process only 18 out of 44 organisations will be allowed to continue work inside government facilities until a final decision on their certification is given. (5)

The first listing of NGOs that will receive a final decision on their certification, and are allowed to continue their work in government structures excludes a large number of organisations that provide essential services, including medical NGOs. (6)

In order to continue work in government facilities, organisations that previously registered were obliged to re-register within two months after the publication of the legislation. (7) According to the Expert Council these requirements do not satisfy proportionality requirements for the restriction on the freedom of association.

The low number of organisations that proceeded to the certification stage of the registration procedure reflects the Expert Council finding that the procedure is onerous, time-consuming and costly, especially for smaller NGOs.(8)

In addition 8 the Expert Council warns there could be arbitrary decisions made based on the vagueness of criteria for certification and a lack of independence of the deciding body. (9)

Both the Expert Council and the European Court of Justice recently emphasized that the work of NGOs is essential for a democratic state and a well-functioning pluralistic society and therefore there should be minimal limitations to their work. (10)

The work of many organisations in Greece is essential in providing basic services including legal assistance, medical care, child protection, women’s protection and empowerment, housing, support for unaccompanied children, (informal) education, employment counseling, job matching, Site Management Support, and provision of information, but are currently hampered by legislative requirements. (11)

To ensure the well functioning of civil society in Greece NGOs should have been consulted about legislation regarding their work and the procedure for registration and certification should be made as simple as possible and in line with the right to the freedom of association. Therefore, we respectfully ask you: (12)

• To implement the recommendations made by the Expert Council on NGO Law to bring legislation on NGO registration in line with European standards.
• To urgently reconsider the requirements for certification and the decision-making pathway for certification in accordance with the findings of the Expert Council on NGO Law.
•  To engage in a constructive dialogue with civil society on the requirements for registration and certification and how the government could encourage organisations to be accountable and transparent, as a means to attain the legitimate goals set out in Article 11(2) of the ECHR.
•  To proceed with timely public consultation and discussion with civil society on legislative reforms and forthcoming legislation regarding the registration of NGOs in Greece as per the Expert Council’s recommendation.

Signed by

1. Action for Education

2. Action for Women

3. ActionAid Hellas

4. Advocates Abroad

5. Afghan Community Migration & Refugees in Greece

6. ARION-CETACEAN RESCUE AND REHABILITATION RESEARCH CENTER

7. ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth

8. Bridge2

9. Centre for Research on Women’s Issues (CRWI) “Diotima”

10. Changemakers Lab

11. Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

12. Donate4Refugees

13. ECHO100PLUS

14. ELIX

15. Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid

16. foodKIND

17. Free Movement Skateboarding UK

18. Greek Forum Of Migrants – Ελληνικό Φόρουμ Μεταναστών

19. Greek Forum of Refugees

20. Hellenic Liver Patient Association “Prometheus”

21. Help Refugees

22. HIGGS

23. Humanity Now: Direct Refugee Relief

24. HumanRights360

25. Humans for Humans (The Imagine Project)

26. I AM YOU Humanitarian Aid

27. InCommOn AMKE

28. Indigo Volunteers

29. Intereuropean Human Aid Association

30. INTERSOS Hellas

31. InterVolve

32. Jesuit Refugee Service Greece – JRS Greece

33. La Luna Di Vasilika ONLUS

34. Lesvos Solidarity

35. Medical Volunteers International e.V.

36. Melissa: Network of Migrant Women in Greece

37. mellifera

38. MERIMNA – Society for the care of children and families facing illness and death

39. Mobile Info Team

40. Network for Children’s Rights

41. Northern Lights Aid

42. Office of Displaced Designers

43. OMNES

44. One Happy Family

45. Project Armonia

46. Refugee Legal Support (RLS)

47. Refugee Rescue

48. Refugee Rights Europe

49. Refugee Trauma Initiative (RTI)

50. Refugee Youth Service

51. RefugeeEd

52. Samos Volunteers

53. ShowerPower Foundation

54. Social Hacker A.M.K.E.

55. SolidarityNow

56. Still I Rise

57. Terre des hommes Hellas

58. Velos Youth

59. Verein FAIR.

60. Wave – Thessaloniki

61. We Need Books

62. Yoga and Sport For Refugees

63. YouBeHero

64. ΒΙΟΚΑΤΑΝΑΛΩΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΠΟΙΟΤΙΚΗ ΖΩΗ (ΒΙΟΖΩ)

65. Θάλασσα Αλληλεγγύης- Thalassa of Solidarity

66. Κοινωφελές Σωματείο Αρωγής Ηλικιωμένων και Ατόμων με Αναπηρία-ΦΡΟΝΤΙΖΩ

67. Μary Pini Director KESO – Μαίρη Πίνη Διευθύντρια ΚΕΣΟ

68. Τεχνοδρομώ/ArtActing

69. 50και Ελλάς

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1. Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference INGOs of the Council of Europe (Expert Council) (2020), Opinion on the Compatibility with European Standards of Recent and Planned Amendments to the Greek Legislation on NGO Registration, CONF/EXP(2020)4, 2 July.

2. Expert Council, para 109.

3. Expert Council, para 78.

4. Expert Council, para 83-85 and 108.

5. Mitarakis, N. “18 Μη Κυβερνητικές Οργανώσεις διατηρούν το δικαίωμα εισόδου σε ΚΥΤ και δομές φιλοξενίας” (17 June 2020).

6. Listing has been shared with the NGOs that can continue to be active in the structures.

7. Article 9(1) of Ministerial Decision 3036/2020.

8. Expert Council, 54 and 58.

9. Expert Council, para 70-72.

10. Expert Council para, 8 and European Court of Justice (ECJ) (2020) Judgment Commission v Hungary (Grand Chamber), ruling of 18 June 2020, Case C-78/18, para 110-114 and Expert Council para 8.

11. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) (2020) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants: Right to the Freedom of association of migrants and their defenders, UN Doc A/HRC/44/42 13 May, para 83 and Expert Council, para 4 and 8.

12. OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) (2014) Guidelines on the Freedom of Association, 14 December, para 156 and Expert Council, para 60.