Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers Without Borders France or ASF France) is a French non- governmental organisation established under the 1st July 1901 French legislation.
Its mission is to:

• Promote access to the law and fair justice for vulnerable persons who are removed from it, arbitrarily detained, or tortured;
• Defend any person deprived of a free and independent defense as well as human rights defenders threatened or violated in the performance of their duties;
• Strengthen the capacity and autonomy of local actors in the defense and promotion of human rights (civil society and actors in the judicial system).

Avocats Sans Frontières in Greece

Millions of people embark on long and dangerous journeys to Europe every day, by road or sea from the Asian and African continents, fleeing insecurity in those regions. Greece remains one of the primary entry points for asylum seekers in Europe. Samos Island, due to its geographical position as the closest Greek island to the Turkish coast, welcomes a large number of people seeking international protection every year. In 2024 alone, around 10,000 people arrived on Samos.
With this advert, we are looking for someone to join the team of the Legal Centre in Samos (Greece), ASF France’s only project in Europe. The migratory context in Europe is such that reception and management of people on the move rely heavily on Greece, Europe’s privileged gateway.
Recognised as a “hotspot” by the European Commission in 2015, Samos has since become one of the main entry points for asylum seekers crossing from Turkey to seek international protection in Europe. New arrivals are placed under geographical restriction and cannot leave the ‘Closed- Controlled Access Centre’ until their registration procedures have been completed. Access to legal aid and medical support is extremely limited, as there is no permanent doctor inside the facility. Once registered, asylum seekers do not have access to state-provided legal aid before their asylum interview.

In response to the significant lack of legal support on the island, ASF France opened the Samos Legal Centre in January 2019 to help guarantee the right to seek asylum and protect the fundamental rights of asylum seekers who are under constant threat. Since September 2021, asylum seekers in Samos reside in a « Closed and Controlled Access Centre, » a facility funded by the EU at a cost of 43 million euros. This remotely located facility has raised considerable challenges in ensuring meaningful access to legal support, as transparency in asylum procedures has become extremely limited. Many legal and non-legal actors departed the island when the new Centre opened, making ASF France one of the main independent organizations providing free legal support.
One of our priorities is to be accessible to as many people as possible. To achieve this, the project maintains an ‘open door’ policy where everyone is welcome to visit our premises. The team also regularly visits the camp to provide legal advice to individuals unable to travel to the town, as the camp is located 7km from Vathy, where NGOs operate.

Job description

ASF France is seeking a dedicated Legal Coordinator to join its Samos Legal Centre project in Greece. This position plays a key role in ensuring the effective implementation of the project by supporting legal activities and advocacy efforts. Working in close collaboration with the Project Manager, the Legal Coordinator will oversee daily legal operations, contribute to strategic advocacy, and help ensure smooth communication and coordination within the team.
Main responsabilities :

1) Legal and technical coordination tasks
– Ensuring a legal and geopolitical monitoring on the context;
– Organising and documenting internal legal meetings on specific cases;
– Providing analysis and legal support on project activities to the project team;
– Coordinating, and when required, conducting interview preparation;
– Organising and facilitating awareness-raising workshops on the rights of asylum seekers;
– Maintaining and updating training tools and legal databases;
– Supporting the project manager in preparing internal reports and reviewing key documents;

2) Supervision of volunteers
– Together with the Project Manager, organising the recruitment, selection and onboarding of caseworkers and interpreters;
– Conducting training sessions;
– Ensuring daily task supervision and check-ins on case files and the hotline;
– Operating legal clinic sessions with the caseworkers;

3) Advocacy and communication activities
– Ability to spot strategic litigation opportunities and implement them;
– Elaboration of advocacy strategies in accordance with the Project Manager;
– Attendance to Advocacy working groups meetings and report information to the team;
– Collection and documentation of testimonies from beneficiaries for advocacy and communication purposes;
– Supporting drafting newsletters, and social media content in liaison with the Project Manager and the team.