No Asylum, No Safety: How Greece’s Three-Month Suspension Hurts Women
We have joined a coalition of civil society groups in signing the joint statement condemning Article 79 of Law 5218/2025, passed by the Hellenic Parliament on 11 July 2025. The law imposes a three-month suspension on asylum applications for people arriving from North Africa and mandates their immediate deportation without registration.
The right to seek asylum and protection from refoulement is non-derogable. It is protected by international and EU law, and cannot be overridden by national legislation. We support the urgent call for repeal. At the same time, we want to highlight the specific and disproportionate risks this policy creates for women and girls.
Women Face Unique and Compounded Risks
Although the suspension applies broadly, the consequences are not felt equally. The women we support at AFW through the Pomegranate Project are fleeing gender-based persecution. Many have survived:
Rape as a weapon of war
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Trafficking and sexual exploitation
Forced marriage and intimate partner violence
These forms of harm are widely recognised grounds for asylum under international law. Denying women the ability to apply is not only unlawful, it is dangerous.
Immediate Impact of the Law on Women
| Consequences | Gendered Impact |
|---|---|
| No registration | No access to shelters, reproductive health services, legal aid, or trauma-informed support |
| Forced deportation | Risk of being returned to countries where gender-based persecution is widespread |
| Increased vulnerability | Undocumented women face greater risk of homelessness, trafficking, and abuse |
A Crisis of Law and Human Rights
We stand with the Greek Ombudsman, the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the Union of Greek Administrative Judges, and UNHCR —all of whom have condemned the law as a violation of both Greek and European legal obligations.
Asylum cannot be suspended: Not for a day, and not for three months. The cost is too high, especially for women whose lives depend on protection.
We urge the Greek government to immediately repeal Article 79 and restore access to asylum for all people arriving in Greece, regardless of nationality. We urge the European Commission to intervene to ensure EU law is upheld and that vulnerable populations, especially women, are not abandoned.
Women do not risk their lives for opportunity — they risk everything for survival. To close the door on asylum is to close the door on protection, dignity, and justice.
