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In the early morning hours of 14 June 2023, the overcrowded fishing boat “Adriana” sank in international waters around 50 miles from the port of Pylos, Greece. Hundreds of people drowned under the watch of the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG). Nearly all of the 104 people who managed to survive were rescued by a luxury…
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[Français en bas / Deutsch weiter unten] At the end of March 2025, Ahmad’s trial took place. He was accused of co-driving a boat across the English Channel and of being responsible for the deaths of several people. This trial is an example of the criminalisation of captains as a further instrument of the death-dealing…
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[Français en bas / Deutsch weiter unten] While people with visas can cross the Channel with disconcerting ease, it is a deadly and highly militarised zone for people without visas. Those who nevertheless facilitate crossings are criminalised on a massive scale. The border regime has one main objective: to divert attention away from itself. Ever…
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On June 12, 16, and 18, lawyers from the Human Rights Legal Project (HRLP) Samos represented 16 asylum seekers who were facing charges of smuggling and long prison sentences. The charges were based solely on the allegation that they had steered the boat that brought them—and other refugees—to Greece. In a series of landmark rulings,…
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Until everyone is free – Examples of victories One year ago, the so-called “Pylos9” were acquitted by the Greek court in Kalamata:In the early morning of June 14, 2023, the overcrowded fishing boat Adriana sank in international waters about 50 miles from the port of Pylos, Greece, carrying 750 people. Many of the only…
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On April 30, 2025, the trial of two teenagers (Ariad and Chatiem) took place in Chania, Greece. They were accused of facilitating the illegal entry (“smuggling”) of 70 and 17 people, respectively. They faced decades in prison—sentences that had already been handed down to other Sudanese teenagers. Although, unfortunately, an acquittal could not be achieved,…
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(Spanish below) The criminalisation of migrants accused of having steered boats or vehicles during unauthorised border crossings is a common phenomenon in the European Union. In Spain, ‘facilitating irregular migration’ is considered a crime and is covered by Article 318bis of the Spanish Penal Code. As in other European countries, the main persons charged and…
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How good legal defense can make a difference On Monday 10th of March 2025, HRLP lawyers defended a Syrian asylum seeker facing up to 160 years in prison for the illegal transfer of 16 asylum seekers, before the Syros First Instance Court. Due to reasonable doubt for his guilt, the Court declared the defendant innocent.…
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On the 6th February 2025, in a remarkable decision, the Court of Mytilene has acquitted a client of the Legal Centre of Lesvos, A.H., of the charges of smuggling and causing a shipwreck. A.H., a Palestinian refugee from the Gaza Strip, was prosecuted for attempting to cross the EU border to seek asylum. The prosecution…
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On January 29, 2025, a teenager named M. Elfallah had to appear before the juvenile court in Crete to face charges of “facilating unauthorized entry” (smuggling). On November 21, 2022, at the age of 15, he boarded a large fishing vessel in Libya with his father and hundreds of people in an attempt to reach…
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Today, February 18, 2025, Jawhar A. was on trial at the Court of Appeal of Kalamata. He was arrested on a boat on September 15, 2022 and was wrongly sentenced in the first instance to 270 years in prison for smuggling 89 people seeking protection. He himself came to Europe on this boat as a…