The Silent Humanitarian Crisis in Greece: Devising Strategies to Improve the Situation of Migrants in Greece workshop report panelinput panelinput Using Legal Strategies to Foster Positive Change in the Lives of Migrants in Greece The Role of the Law in Advocating for Migrants’ Rights Spyros Koulocheris, Greek Council for Refugees Simon Cox, Open Society Justice Initiative Funded by George Soros, the Open Society Foundations (OSF) gives grants and supports work to build and defend open societies across the world. Greek lawyers have a key role to play in national courts in Greece, in national courts in other EU Member States and at the European level to provide justice and redress to migrants, to develop jurisprudence and to prevent violations of human rights in Greece in the future. The Open Society Justice Initiative participates in this using law, including the development of strategic litigation. This aims at using the law to secure systemic change including through court judgments, but also as a means of raising awareness and influencing policy makers and other actors. There is a need to build collaboration between lawyers and human rights defenders in order to develop strong strategic litigation and to have a clear understanding of the realities faced by those whose rights are being violated. Before finding solutions it is essential to understand the theory of change (i.e. what is necessary to achieve a long-term objective) and the problem. Key problems which should be considered: • European Union asylum policy is based on the principle that asylum should be sought in the country of first entry to the EU territory. The Dublin Regulation reflects this policy. Because of the geographical structure of Europe, this means that the distribution of migration flows will never been equitable • Expectation in Greece that it should deal with almost all migrants entering Europe through its borders whilst other EU member states are signing bilateral agreements (e.g. Italy and Libya) to limit flow of irregular migration which are not in compliance with human rights obligations. A noted approach taken on by Greek lawyers has been to support asylum seekers who cannot get access to the asylum process in Greece to help them make their claim elsewhere in other EU countries. It might even be possible to support them to pursue claims through courts in those countries. Such initiatives cannot replace the duty of government to find a common political solution. Lawyers can also help to change detention conditions and procedures in Greece by challenging policies and practices and putting pressure on law enforcement authorities. Strategic litigation is an important advocacy tool to show that Greece is failing to meet its obligations and that the EU is also failing to respond to the disproportionate distribution of asylum claims across EU member states. Key issues to address when carrying out strategic litigation: • Greek courts are already overburdened by case work. • The lack of knowledge of lawyers of the realities faced by migrants. They too can have fears and prejudices regarding migrants. • The lack of funding and resources to enable human rights’ workers to carry out their work and assist migrants and asylum seekers in ensuring their rights are respected and obtain redress in case of violations Strategic litigation needs to be driven by a group of people with solidarity and common ideas, in order to ensure successful and lasting change. There is also a need for funding to support such activities. Recommendations Through the panel presentations and the group discussion which followed, the following recommendations emerged. 1. Creating a liaison between human rights defenders and legal practitioners to exchange information and collaborate to challenge the government’s failures to meets its national, European and international legal obligations. 3. Fundraising for litigation work – Foundations should open funding opportunities for NGOs to develop and taken on strategic litigation work to support and complement their advocacy and awareness raising strategies concerning the human rights of migrants. 2. Focusing on building jurisprudence – Initiatives must be put in place to bolster the work of lawyers in bringing justice, and developing case law that raises awareness of the rights violations faced by migrants. 22 23