By Sheila Cross | Team Manager
As ASsIST continues to provide free information, legal assistance and referrals to asylum seekers and refugees across Greece, we are also working to strengthen the systems, resources and teamwork that make these services possible.
Continuing Legal Assistance
During this reporting period, our team handled 41 new cases and 17 ongoing cases, with 7 cases resolved. Our clients represented 22 nationalities across 16 locations in Greece, alongside two cases in other EU Member States. Legal assistance required interpretation in seven languages other than English.
Behind these figures are people navigating complex legal and administrative procedures, often in circumstances of considerable uncertainty. Each case requires careful attention to the person's circumstances, access to appropriate legal information and, where necessary, continuing legal assistance.
Our work has also included two particularly demanding legal matters. One concerns family-law proceedings to establish legal custody, for which funds were raised separately. Another involves ongoing court proceedings concerning a young couple, for whom we are seeking additional financial support through CrowdJustice.
These cases illustrate the importance of being able to provide sustained legal assistance when a person's circumstances require more than an initial consultation or referral.
Working Together in Athens
Our Team Manager recently met with our Athens-based colleagues, both collectively and individually. These meetings provided an important opportunity to review our work, discuss the challenges encountered in providing legal assistance, and consider how we can improve coordination and support across our geographically dispersed team.
Our services depend on close cooperation between lawyers, our Client Services Manager, interpreters and translators. Maintaining that cooperation, and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to contribute their experience and observations, remains an important organisational priority.
A New Collaboration
We have begun a collaboration with King's Business School in London, with two teams of students working alongside ASsIST to examine our digital infrastructure, information management and organisational processes.
The work will consider our existing systems and identify opportunities to improve information security, efficiency, knowledge management and the long-term sustainability of our services.
This is particularly important for a small organisation providing remote legal assistance while maintaining strict confidentiality and protecting sensitive client information.
A Rebuilt Bilingual Website
We are also looking forward to the launch of our rebuilt English–French website, now anticipated in mid-November.
The new website is intended to make information about ASsIST's services easier to find and navigate, while providing improved access to our publications, news and resources. It will also offer a clearer picture of our work and the circumstances affecting people seeking asylum and protection in Greece.
Keeping Our Readers Informed
Newsletter No. 8 for 2026 continuing our coverage of developments affecting asylum seekers and refugees in Greece and the wider European context is now available.
Through our newsletters, we aim to provide accessible, carefully sourced information about changes in legislation, policy and practice, particularly where these affect people's ability to understand and exercise their rights.
Looking Ahead
These developments may be less visible than individual legal cases, but they are essential to the quality and continuity of our work. Reliable systems, effective teamwork, accessible information and secure communications all contribute to our ability to respond effectively to people seeking assistance.
We remain committed to providing free, independent, rights-based information and legal services to asylum seekers and refugees across Greece.
Thank you for your continued interest in and support for ASsIST's work.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
