What We Do.

Mobile Info Team has been working in Northern Greece since 2016. Our goal is to improve the situation of refugees and people on the move in Greece, by providing them with vital information, clarification and assistance for the entire duration of their asylum procedure. Our mission began in Idomeni, a town close to the North Macedonian border, where our founders provided crucial information to asylum seekers staying in the makeshift camps which were established as a result of the blockage on the Balkan route. Later, when people were transferred to government run camps around Thessaloniki, we adapted operations and moved our base to the city.

Volunteer Testimony

“I joined MIT because I believe in this project. It is promoting a change in the system, in order to substantially protect the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees.”

— Carlo, Mobile Info Team Volunteer

Our Services

We provide support throughout the asylum process in several different ways:

Through the provision of general information on our website and Facebook page, people on the move are kept accurately informed about new developments and changes to the Greek asylum system, integration measures, family reunification procedures and more. Our reach is huge: we have over 68,000 followers on Facebook, and our posts had a reach of over 1.7 million in 2023.

The provision of individual information offers people on the move access to tailored information regarding their specific situation. We respond to any questions or queries they may have, communicating through Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, email and during our twice-weekly in-person information sessions in 5 languages - Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, English and French. On average, we are in contact with around 750 individuals every month.

Our full-time lawyer and senior caseworkers also provide individual in-depth case support to individuals whose legal issues are particularly complex and necessitate special attention and the allocation of further resources. They have successfully resolved cases involving family reunification, asylum seekers in detention and the navigation of the asylum process for extremely vulnerable applicants. In cases involving cross-border cooperation, such as family reunification, we litigate with the help of lawyers in other EU countries.

As well as providing in-the-moment advice and support, we also advocate for the rights of people on the move. We collect testimonies, publish reports, and engage with other actors, such as media outlets, members of parliament and UN representatives, in order to put the protection and promotion of human rights on the European political agenda and change key obstacles faced by asylum seekers and refugees in Greece. Recent focus has been on the difficulties in accessing the asylum system, illegal pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish border and conditions in detention centres on the Greek mainland.

Our Impact.

50 cases successfully resolved in 2023

The work of our Greek lawyer and senior caseworkers resulted in successes such as the one below:

A Syrian family was separated in Turkey.  Mother and son were reunited in Sweden, however, her 5-year-old daughter ended up in Greece with her half-sister.  Separated for more than three years, her mother tried many times to apply for family reunification, but the child was mistakenly registered as her sister's child.  She reached out to us and we helped her correct the mistake, supporting her through the family reunification process.  In October, they received a positive decision and her daughter (now 8 years old) was allowed to travel to Sweden to be reunited with her mother.


november 2022

‘Thank you so much because you have been the ones at my side for all this time.’

A single mother from DRC supported with her asylum application by our caseworkers

9,127 enquiries sent to our hotlines in 2023

Clients contact us through our WhatsApp and Facebook hotlines. Our legally trained caseworkers provide information and advice on a wide range of topics, helping people to navigate the complex and confusing Greek asylum system. They support on topics such as booking appointments at the asylum office, making referrals to other organisations and renewing travel documents and residence permits.

informative posts

Each week, based on the enquiries we receive, we post relevant and up-to-date content on our Facebook page, discussing matters such as the closing of the ESTIA housing programme, the procedure for renewing important documents and changes to the Greek asylum process. Our page has 68,000 followers and our posts received 450,000 engagements last year.

language provision

With our team of translators, we provide support in 5 languages:
Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, English and French.

info sessions

Twice-weekly, we hold in-person information sessions in Thessaloniki for people on the move. Predominantly homeless, third-country nationals, we inform them of their rights in Greece and answer any questions they may have.

Several times a year, we also visit partner organisations close to camps in Northern Greece, so that we can meet with camp residents and ensure that as many people as possible have access to accurate and vital information regarding their asylum rights.

Last year, we held 75 in-person sessions, supporting 658 people.

Collaborations.

asylum workshop

As a team comprising several legally-trained caseworkers and a Greek lawyer, we’re always eager to share our legal knowledge with colleagues from other organisations supporting people on the move across the country and we believe that it’s important for as many people as possible to have an understanding of Greece’s complex legal systems.

We have extensive experience with asylum procedures such as initial applications, appeals, subsequent applications and family reunification, and we’re happy to arrange talks for teams online or in person. Please feel free to get in touch.

info sessions

Our goal is to ensure that as many people on the move as possible have access to the information they need to make informed decisions about their own futures. To facilitate this, we offer in-person information sessions across northern Greece, where people have the opportunity to ask us questions and receive information about accessing and navigating the asylum system.

If you’re an organisation working with people who you think could benefit from our support, for instance camp residents or community centre members, please contact us.

Partners

Mushkila Kabira

Mobile Info Team is a project of the Mushkila Kabira Foundation, a Dutch organisation set up to support citizen initiatives where governments are slow to respond.

Annual reports.

 

“Sadly, advocating for the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and people without papers in Greece has never been more vital. Detention is now used as a blanket practice by Greek authorities as opposed to a measure of last resort. People on the move including asylum seekers are detained on vaguely defined grounds for extensive periods of time, despite the extremely low numbers of people actually deported from Greece. The conditions are shocking - people are incarcerated in dilapidated structures and denied their basic rights to healthcare and decent living conditions. With the EU institutions reaching an agreement on the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, there is no doubt that it will have a huge impact on access to asylum in Europe and lead to even greater use of detention. We need to continue this work to ensure that we channel the experiences of asylum seekers and people on the move to hold those in positions of power to account.”

- Alice Troy-Donovan, MIT Research Officer

“One of the key milestones in 2022 for us at Mobile Info Team was the further extension of our in-depth case support by working with a Greek lawyer - a goal that we have been pursuing for a long time… In response to the existing gap in legal support, we provide legal advice, assistance, administrative and judicial representation throughout the asylum process, regardless of gender, age, or place of residence.  To date, we have taken on a significant number of cases from all over Greece, making a huge impact on people’s lives.  This makes us fight harder for their rights, in the hope that at some point we will not be needed in societies fair and equal for all humans.”

- Anna Maria, MIT Lawyer

‘‘The ongoing invasion in Ukraine has again made us aware of the terror of armed conflicts. Lives and livelihood are destroyed, families are ripped apart, people deeply rooted in their country and culture have to make the difficult decision to leave their homes in search of safety. Our thoughts and compassion are with the people of Ukraine. But there are also people from the Middle and Far East or from Sub-saharan Africa who have been in a similar situation for many years, fleeing war and persecution, looking for a safe haven to continue with their lives. A lot of them are currently in Greece and need, as well as the people of Ukraine, our support and empathy. Let’s not forget about them.’’

- Michael, MIT Co-Founder & Director