Subsequently, on 29 July 2023, two more NGOs operating in Lesvos were targeted in a Greek Police press release.174 The press release, entitled “Finding the action of an organized criminal network, consisting of two (2) criminal organizations, whose members were systematically active in facilitating the illegal entry of foreigners into the Greek territory through the island of Lesvos”, 175 targeted NGOs which were going to arrival locations of third country nationals with the “pretext of providing them with humanitarian-medical assistance”.176 Similar to the above, the police statement triggered new smear campaigns against HRD.177 To date (June 2025), almost two years later, no individual and member of an NGO acting on Lesvos has been prosecuted for any facts related to these statements. In June 2022, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, carried out an official country visit to Greece from 13 to 22 June 2022 following an invitation from the Greek government. In her statement on preliminary observations, she noted that: ‘the nature of cooperation between the Government and civil society, and the overall perception about the role of civil society and human rights defenders in Greece, has undergone a significant shift since 2019. Since then, human rights defenders have found it increasingly difficult to carry out their work, especially in fields that might be considered controversial or geopolitically complicated or sensitive. This is particularly tangible in relation to those who defend the rights of asylum seekers, migrants and refugees, including those providing humanitarian assistance, legal aid, participating in search and rescue operations and documenting pushbacks. While previously human rights defenders in these areas had enjoyed an overall conducive environment for carrying out their activities, the current policy framework, that emphasises ‘security’ over humanitarian assistance, has led to a number of constraints’; ‘[A] sense of pervasive fear […] is felt by a significant segment of human rights defenders, which seems to be a direct result of the criminalisation of migration and their legitimate, peaceful work for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants’. As highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, ‘human rights defenders promoting and protecting the rights of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, including human rights lawyers, humanitarian workers, volunteers and journalists, have been subjected to smear campaigns, a changing regulatory environment, threats and attacks and the misuse of criminal law against them to a shocking degree’’.178 The Campaign for Access to Asylum,179 in an announcement on 5 October 2022, underlined that: The authorities’ systematic use of misinformation regarding "false reports on pushbacks" aims to cover up illegal practices and to target and put pressure on people and organisations that report these incidents’ and added that ‘…The incident in Evros highlighted the problem of pushbacks in a multitude of ways. Systematic propaganda and misinformation about these practices, which often result in the loss of human lives, is aimed at concealing the truth, obscuring the consequences (deaths, drownings, violence, etc.) and, of course, at targeting lawyers, organisations, as well as media and journalists who report these incidents. 174 175 176 177 178 179 Greek Police, The activity of an organized criminal network, consisting of two (2) criminal organizations, whose members were systematically active in facilitating the illegal entry of foreigners into Greek territory, through the island of Lesbos, was identified, 29 July 2023, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3VR4Bbd. Ibid. Unofficial translation to English: “(d) The members of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), at the same time as they were informed about the migratory arrival, went to the areas where the newly arrived third country nationals were located, on the pretext of providing them with humanitarian-medical assistance”. Kathimerini, Λέσβος: Ερευνα για κύκλωμα διακίνησης παράτυπων μεταναστών με εμπλοκή μελών ΜΚΟ, 29 July 2023, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/49ppbmt. Racist Crimes Watch, Greece: New smear campaign against NGOs working with asylum seekers, P. Dimitras, 20 July 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/4aosag4. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor - Visit to Greece (A/HRC/52/29/Add.1), available at: https://bit.ly/43n0hS1, para. 114. Joint Press Release of 16 civil society organisations, Asylum Campaign (Καμπάνια για το Άσυλο) - It is the Greek Government’s responsibility to immediately put a stop to informal forced returns (pushbacks): They endanger human lives and breach the state’s international obligations, 5 October 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3MTm7qM. 54