GCR represents survivors in two other pushback cases, which occurred after the individuals had already landed on the islands Lesvos and Kos. The first one concerns the case of a group of asylum applicants, who were pushed back to Türkiye upon their landing on Lesvos island and after entering a governmentrun quarantine facility for refugees in Megala Therma in February 2021. In both cases, the victims of the violent pushback operations – some of them in the first case – managed to re-enter Greece in 2022 and subsequently, filed an official complaint before the Public Prosecutor. 167 The criminal investigation about the alleged incident in Megala Therma reached an end and GCR submitted a full application before the ECtHR in December 2023. The second case is still pending before the competent public prosecutors and concerns the kidnapping and illegal forced return/pushback of two recognised refugees from Greece who were legally residing in the Eastern Aegean Island of Kos. Criminalisation of Human Rights Defenders (HRD) and organisations denouncing/reporting pushbacks In May 2022, it was reported that four organisations were under criminal investigation for potential involvement with smuggling networks, because they notified the authorities about the location of newly arrived migrants and requested that they be provided with assistance and access to asylum procedures in Greece.168 Since then , no investigations has taken place as of June 2025 but it created an increasingly hostile environment in the field of HRDs’ work in Greece and a widespread fear of criminalisation. 169 Subsequently, on 29 July 2023, two more NGOs operating in Lesvos were targeted in a Greek Police press release.170 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”, 171 targeted NGOs which were going to arrival locations of third country nationals with the “pretext of providing them with humanitarian-medical assistance”.172 Similar to the above, the police statement triggered new smear campaigns against HRD.173 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 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 For more details on the cases, See GCR, at Europe’s Borders: Between Impunity and Criminalization, March 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3opKToW. Among others, News.IT, Evros: Investigation into the activities of NGOs and their connection with illegal immigrant networks, 29 May 2022, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/4208ryu. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Statement on preliminary observations and recommendations following official visit to Greece, 22 June 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3q1bwAZ, ‘I also note the sense of pervasive fear that is felt by a significant segment of human rights defenders, which seems to be a direct result of the criminalization of migration and their legitimate, peaceful work for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants’ 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. 51