ASsIST (Asylum Seekers Information Services Team) is a Swiss non-profit organisation providing free legal information and assistance to asylum seekers and refugees in Greece.  First established in 2019 on Chios Island and now primarily delivering services on-line,  our lawyers and interpreters have assisted hundreds of people navigating complex legal and administrative procedures. Our core-team is based in Athens.

Summary - ASsIST is receiving an increasing number of requests from recognised refugees who need legal assistance to obtain custody or guardianship of their children. Many cannot afford the legal costs involved, and access to state-funded legal aid for these cases is extremely limited in practice. This project will help refugee single parents secure the legal protection their children need.

We are raising £2,500 to ensure that several custody cases could proceed without delay while further funds are raised. Your contribution will help cover legal fees, court costs, and other mandatory procedural expenses. Please donate if you can and share this page with others who may wish to help.

 What difference will our cases make?  We want refugee single parents to be able to obtain legal custody or guardianship of their children regardless of their financial circumstances. Legal custody can be essential for accessing services, enrolling children in school, obtaining travel documents, securing accommodation, and making important decisions on behalf of a child. By reducing financial barriers to legal representation, we hope to ensure that children and their parents can access the legal protection available to them.

Although the right to legal aid is guaranteed by law, state-funded representation is in practice severely under-resourced and difficult to access, particularly in family or custody proceedings. There is no effective and accessible legal-aid provision for refugee single parents facing custody-related cases, especially where interpretation, documentation, or cross-border issues are involved. Costs of approximately €800–€1200 per case are prohibitive for most families. Without timely legal intervention, parents may face serious difficulties securing custody or guardianship arrangements necessary for access to services and longer-term stability.

Next steps  - Once a custody case is accepted, our lawyers must prepare the application, complete a number of procedural requirements, and represent the parent before the court. Although these proceedings are designed to provide urgent protection where necessary, court hearings may still take several months to be scheduled. In our most recent case, ASsIST's lawyer filed the application in March 2026 and the hearing date is set for the end of June 2026. 

Our initial goal is £2,500. This amount will allow ASsIST to begin supporting one or two custody cases concurrently and reduce delays caused by the need to raise funds after each new request is received. As funds are used and additional cases are accepted, the fundraising target may be increased and donors will receive updates on progress.

Thank you for taking the time to read about this project. Whether you choose to donate, share the campaign, or simply learn more about the challenges faced by refugee single parents in Greece, your interest and support are greatly appreciated.