Samos, an island in the Aegean Sea, is located opposite the Turkish coast. Its geographical location makes it one of the main entry points for asylum seekers crossing from Turkey to apply for international protection in Europe. In response to the large gap in legal support on the island, Avocats sans Frontières France opened the Samos Legal Centre in January 2019 and has been providing independent legal support to the asylum seekers who are under geographical restriction on Samos since then. With the opening of a new ‘closed-controlled’ facility in Samos in September 2021, the first of its kind in the European Union, many organizations left Samos, resulting in the Samos Legal Centre becoming one of the only independent legal actors on the island.The team of Greek, international and community volunteers working in cooperation with local actors and partners to ensure access to justice and that the right to seek asylum is protected.
To help guarantee the right to seek asylum and protect the fundamental rights of asylum seekers.
The Samos Volunteers organisation together with Choose Love, the law firm DLA Piper, the philanthropist Antonis Schwartz through his Good Move Initiatives foundation and the Yo and Anne-Marie Hamoud Foundation support the Legal Centre project in Samos.