Legal Centre Lesvos

In 2021, the practice of so-called “pushbacks”, in which protection seekers are picked up either at sea or on land and forcibly repatriated, which is contrary to international law, reached a completely new quality. Refugees who had already reached the soil of Lesbos are picked up by masked men, often abused, kidnapped and abandoned on maneuverless “life rafts” on the open sea. Refugees, who are subjected to this violence rarely have access to lawyers or options to receive information about their rights. The Legal Center Lesvos fights against this and receives people directly after their arrival to provide them with legal support. This year alone, over 500 people were registered and brought into the regular asylum process. This protects refugees from further legal violations. In addition, the organization was one of the few to manage to bring two cases of human rights violations to the European Court of Justice.