The European Court of Human Rights condemned Greece for subjecting our client A.L., a vulnerable asylum applicant who is a victim of severe forms of violence, Hepatitis B positive, surrering from PTSD and various other mental health conditions, to degrading and inhumane living conditions in the Moria camp on Lesvos.

Mytilini, 30 September 2026

On 24 September 2026 the European Court of Human Rights issued its joint judgment on the case of A.M. and others v. Greece, which amongst other applicants regarded our client A.L. (application no 1880/21). The Court finds that Greece violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, by subjecting vulnerable asylum applicants to poor reception and living conditions in Moria camp on the island of Lesvos.

Fenix, together with DLA Piper, represented A.L. from Cameroon, who arrived to Lesvos in June 2019. A.L. was suffering from Hepatitis B, which evolved into chronic Hepatitis B, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and various other serious mental health conditions as a result of the severe forms of violence he survived in both his country of origin and in Turkiye. He was forced to reside in Moria camp under extremely poor living conditions, in a tent inside and outside of the official parameters of the camp.

Fenix first asked the European Court of Human Rights for interim measures under Rule 39, to prevent the risk of further harm. The Court granted them and ordered Greece to ensure that A.L. had access to appropriate medical care, and living conditions compatible with Article 3 of the ECHR and his state of health.

Now, 6 years later, the Court finds that the conditions in Moria camp during the period that A.L. resided there - specifically the overcrowding and lack of access to sanitary facilities – were inappropriate and incompatible with his special reception needs, and therefore amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of Article 3 of the ECHR. The Court awarded A.L. €3,000 in non-pecuniary damage.

Besides justice for A.L., the importance of the decision lies, firstly, in the reference of the Court to the well-established principle of its case law that asylum seekers constitute a particularly vulnerable group requiring special protection by the contracting states, as initially stated in the judgment M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece [GC], paras. 219 and 251. And secondly, in the reconfirmation that the vulnerabilities and the special reception needs of asylum seekers must be taken into consideration and provided with the necessary attention, as stated in the Court’s case law (M.S.S., Khlaifia and Others v. Italy [GC], and Tarakhel v. Switzerland [GC], paras. 9 and 12).

It’s worth reminding that the living conditions that prevailed in Moria camp in the vast majority of the period from 2015 until its destruction in September 2020, constituted inhuman and degrading treatment for almost every asylum applicant who resided there, irrespective of their age, gender, vulnerabilities, state of health and other special personal circumstances and not only for the most vulnerable of them, as A.L. The vast majority of people did not have access to the European Court of Human Rights, and will never see justice.

A.L was represented by Fenix’ lawyer Asterios Kanavos, together with other members of Fenix Holistic Legal Aid team, and Margaux Bia, lawyer at DLA Piper.

For more information about the case, you can contact info@fenixaid.org

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Written by Asterios Kanavos (Fenix lawyer on the case) and Maaike Vledder (Fenix Director)