Greek Legal Aid Clinics & Partnerships

Advocates Abroad provides free weekly legal aid clinics in Greece and on request in Italy. In Greece, clinics are held in OpenSpace (Lesvos), Imagine Center (Chios), Thinking Cafe & Clandestina Squat & STEPS (Athens), Oikopolis Hub & OCC (Thessaloniki, Polycastro).

Click here for more clinic information: Facebook.com/AdvocatesAbroad/Events

- OpenSpace is a rapidly growing hub based in Mytilene, Lesvos. It was originally built and continues to operate through the community spirit of volunteer, locals, and refugees on the island. Advocates provides clinics each week specific for the refugee volunteers of the hub, for female refugees, and for scheduled or walk in meetings with all other refugees.

- Imagine Project is a hub on Chios in which Advocates has operated for the past 27 months. The center is comprised of dedicated and trained volunteers who help refugees and asylum seekers to obtain skills that will serve them both during their application process and thereafter when granted protection. 

- Thinking Cafe & Clandestina Squat & STEPS are all located in central Athens and provide a space of respectful, private, and dignified discussion for all those in need. All serve to build the surrounding community for all residents of Athens. Advocates operates in these spaces to provide legal and non-legal aid to refugees, volunteers, established NGO/IGO staff and teams, and local officials.

- Οικόπολις (Oikopolis) Social Center and Open Cultural Center (OCC) in Thessaloniki and Polycastro are two well established and well organized hubs that serve diverse populations. Both aim to bring refugees, locals, and volunteers together for a range of cultural and recreational activities. Advocates provides legal and non-legal aid in both spaces.

For legal questions or group trainings or clinic requests, email: cases@advocatesabroad.org

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General Partnerships

Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and Advocates Abroad collaborate most often on police brutality and civil rights violations claims in Greece to ensure asylum seekers are fully protected under the law and applicable fundamental human rights. This strong and valued partnership combines both the skill of experienced Greek human rights lawyers and the energy and versatility of attorneys from diverse backgrounds who often speak the two or three languages of many refugee populations.

AsyLex is a Swiss non-profit organisation, which supports asylum seekers in their procedure by providing free legal aid. All of Asylex activities are financed by donations. Advocates Abroad and Asylex have cooperated on a number of past and ongoing cases for refugees seeking protection and legal aid in Greece and Switzerland and Italy. 

International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism, human rights and equality, motivated by humanist values. IHEU and Advocates Abroad have linked global networks to further strengthen the efficiency and resources in crisis zones for rapidly deployed legal aid and medical professionals of Advocates Abroad.

ARCI is an established Italian NGO that defends and developments the civil domestic and recreational space through clubs and other programs. Advocates Abroad and ARCI Pavia partner to bring the legal skills of Advocates to the established communal sphere built and supported by the ARCI Pavia program and its local teams.

Esade Business & Law School is Spain’s top private university for studying law and one of the most innovative law schools in the world. Ten ESADE students in an externship clinic formed jointly by Advocates Abroad and ESADE shall be joining the remote and Greece field teams of Advocates Abroad in Summer 2021 through Fall 2021.

TrustLaw is the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal programme. It connects the best law firms and corporate legal teams around the world with high-impact NGOs and social enterprises working to create social and environmental change