The case was legally supported and represented before the Court by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR).
Athens, 18 December 18, 2025
Yesterday, December 18, 2025, the Athens Single-Member Magistrates Court acquitted an asylum seeker, a survivor of the Pylos shipwreck, who was arrested and prosecuted for illegal residence("residence without legal formalities")pursuant to the new law of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum (Law 5226/2025). Under this new legislation,("residence without legal formalities")is treated for the first time as a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of at least two (2) years without suspension.
The asylum seeker, who was acquitted, is a survivor of the Pylos shipwreck and arrived in Greece as an unaccompanied minor seeking protection. The examination of his initial asylum application, which he had submitted as an unaccompanied minor upon arrival, was not completed through no fault of his own. On his own initiative -long before his recent arrest and even before the publication of Law 5226/2025- he had already followed the prescribed procedure for his asylum application to be examined, submitting a new application via the Ministry of Migration and Asylum platform.
And while he was waiting for his asylum application to be fully registered, which had been scheduled by the competent authorities for almost a year later (March 2026), and despite the fact that he had followed the legal procedure, he was arrested and prosecuted for the offense of illegal residence("stay without legal formalities").).
The Court, recognizing his status as an asylum seeker, a person whose stay in the country is permitted by law under the legislation in force, acquitted the defendant.
The case highlights the risk of arrest, criminal prosecution, and conviction of asylum seekers who,
despite having done everything required to legalize their stay in the country, due to problems and delays in administrative procedures are treated as criminal offenders.
In practice, the ability of these persons to defend themselves and refute the charges requires the collection of multiple documents, the submission of requests to different administrative services, and the presentation of a complex administrative procedure before the Court — something that cannot reasonably be expected of them. In this particular case, the above was possible because the applicant had access to legal assistance, which is not a given in all cases.
It should be noted that the new law of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum (Law 5226/2025) has been widely criticized by all human rights organizations, [1][1] as, among other things, it introduces new criminal offenses (provisions for the criminalization of'staying without legal formalities,' etc.)in direct contravention of international and EU law and in violation of the principle of proportionality. These new provisions, in addition to placing a burden on the Courts and the competent authorities, entail the risk of people serving prison sentences in Greece's already overcrowded prisons, without even the possibility of suspension of the sentence imposed, in cases that were not even considered criminal offenses until the new law came into force.
[1] National Commission for Human Rights, Memorandum before the Hellenic Parliament for the discussion and voting on the draft law of the Ministry of Citizen Protection entitled: "Reform of the framework and procedures for the return of third-country nationals - Other provisions of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum";
Ombudsman "Reform of the framework and procedures for the return of third-country nationals"UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Comments on the Draft Law of the Ministry of Migration and AsylumAssociation of Administrative Judges, Υπόμνημα επί του νομοσχεδίου με τίτλο ‘‘Αναμόρφωση πλαισίου και διαδικασιών επιστροφών πολιτών τρίτων χωρών – Λοιπές ρυθμίσεις του Υπουργείου Μετανάστευσης και Ασύλου’’Greek Council for Refugees Comments of the Greek Council for Refugees on the draft law of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum entitled: "Reform of the framework and procedures for the return of third-country nationals – Other provisions of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum".
