When Criminalization Becomes Law: An Outlook on Trends in the Greek Migration Policy in 2026

Credit: Arno Tanner

Authors: Eleni Polykarpou, Konstantinos Iason Mokas, Alexia Hack

'Deterrence' gone wrong?

On the night of 3 February, news alerts reported the collision of a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol vessel with an inflatable boat carrying people on the move near Mersinidi Beach on the island of Chios. The crash left 25 men, women and children injured and resulted in 14 deaths. According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, the inflatable boat ignored the patrol vessel's light and sound signals and changed course abruptly, resulting in the collision. However, survivors claim that they received no warning signals and that their boat did not change course. Instead, they said that the coast guard vessel approached them.

Cameras installed on the patrol vessel could have helped to clarify the conflicting testimonies. However, they were reportedly not activated, as their use was deemed 'not necessary'.

The severity of the impact is reflected in the injuries of the survivors and the reported causes of death. Medical examiners at Skilitsio hospital in Chios supported that the survivors’ injuries resembled those of a severe car crash. Several victims reportedly suffered traumatic brain injuries and other forms of blunt-force trauma, injury patterns that seem to confirm those findings and indicate a brutal collision.

Narratives of criminalization

In the aftermath of the shipwreck, public attention quickly shifted from the circumstances of the collision to constructing a narrative around responsibility. A Moroccan survivor referred to as Mohammed was placed in pretrial detention on smuggling charges after being identified by two fellow survivors as the person steering the boat. These testimonies were later withdrawn, casting doubt on the reliability of the initial identification and the speed with which criminal responsibility was assigned. That withdrawal was not reflected in the governmental stance on the subject, as officials continued to target the Moroccan survivor, who remains in detention. Τhe responsibility shift towards the smugglers was further reinforced by the arrest of 5 people in Turkey, with suspected ties to the smuggling ring involved in the collision. 

At the same time, government officials publicly defended the actions of the Hellenic Coast Guard. Thanos Plevris, Greece’s Minister of Migration and Asylum, openly sided with the coast guard’s version of events and questioned the credibility of the legal defense, highlighting that the lawyer representing the survivors has 'NGO ties'. Similar claims were made by Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, who suggested that NGOs and activists were attempting to influence asylum procedures and complaints submitted by survivors. He further alleged that interpreters present during testimonies were guiding the survivors' statements.

Such rhetoric contributes to the broader effort to target and raise suspicion around survivors, as well as those representing and advocating for them. The construction and reproduction of these narratives fit the broader Greek context, with the newly introduced tighter migration policies and the ongoing criminalization of the sector. 

The detention of Tommy Olsen in his home country of Norway and the threat of his extradition to Greece further exacerbate this climate of fear for human rights activists. Olsen had been running the Facebook page ‘Aegean Boat Report’ since 2017, which documented pushbacks on land and at sea. Greece had only secured an international arrest warrant against him in February 2026. The message is clear: it is the exposure of human rights violations that is being criminalised, not the human rights violations themselves.

The Institutionalization of Criminalization

The situation of human rights in Greece is becoming increasingly worse on the institutional level, as evidenced by the new modifications to the Migration Code which effectively criminalize NGOs that rescue refugees. The new legal framework, titled “Law on the Promotion of Legal Migration Policies”, was voted into law on February 5th by the ruling conservative New Democracy party. It moves further away from the long-held European and global humanitarian values, putting a severe strain on organisations that are at the front lines of solidarity. A joint statement of 79 organisations that champion human and refugees’ rights in Greece succinctly summarises the intended aims of the new law: “These provisions are intended to intimidate civil society.” 

To understand the ramifications of the new legal framework, it is important to go over key points of the new law. Firstly, the law establishes special types of criminal offences for people who work in NGOs that are enrolled in the registry of Greece’s Ministry for Migration and Asylum. According to the law, if an NGO worker is found to “facilitate” the “illegal entry, exit or residence” of persons in Greece, they can be punished with a jail time of up to 10 years and a fine of 50.000 euros. In fact MinisterThanos Plevris is now allowed to unilaterally decide to remove the NGO from the registry, solely on the basis of a criminal prosecution against one of its members, and not a judicial sentence. This provision effectively cancels the presumption of innocence, and collectively punishes the entire organization. The NGO can be readmitted to the Ministry’s registry only after it has been officially cleared of any wrongdoing. In Greece, where the judicial system is notoriously slow and repeated appeal processes can take years to be decided on, this effectively means that organisations are basically forced to completely stop working and provide help to people on the move.

Moreover, articles 47-62 of the law make it impossible for organisations to sign contractual agreements with the Ministry, while it encourages the signing of agreements with the Church of Greece. The law further imposes stricter rules on the registration of new organisations while maintaining a “flawed registration framework”. As such, the new law contravenes suggestions by the European Commission (EC), which has systematically asked the Greek government to engage in dialogue with civil society organisations and develop transparent procedures for their operations in the country.

In general, the new legal framework is yet another attack on the human rights and the rights of refugees, further undermining the situation of human rights in Greece and Europe.