After receiving refugee status in Greece, a mother raising her two young children alone faces a legally required custody procedure before her children can access documents, housing, and essential services. These court costs are mandatory and must be paid upfront. This project aim is to raise $1,000 to remove this legal barrier that prevents a refugee family from moving from protection to real stability to plan their future.
In Greece, recognised refugees raising children alone face a legal barrier after asylum is granted. When one parent is missing and their whereabouts are unknown, Greek law requires a court decision granting sole custody before children can receive travel documents. Without these documents, families cannot access accommodation, healthcare, or schooling. The custody procedure involves mandatory court and Bar Association fees that must be paid in advance.
If this project raises $ 1,000, the mandatory upfront legal costs required for a recognised refugee single mother to apply for sole custody of her two children. Once these statutory fees are paid, ASsIST's lawyers will file the custody application and the court can hear the case. The procedure take usually takes a minimum of three months. After the custody decision, mother with children will be enable to access accommodation, all services, and look to longer-term stability for the family.
The immediate impact is that a single-parent refugee family will be able to find safe housing, access public services [health, day care, schooling] moving from legal recognition to real stability and plan for a safer future. More broadly, this project highlights a recurring gap affecting many single-parent refugee families. Post-recognition of refugee status, family law requirements are often unfunded, leaving civil rights inaccessible in practice.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
