Millions of people around the world are forced to migrate every year as a result of wars and impoverishing policies. Women and children are again the most affected by war and forced displacement. Of the 122 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, approximately 50 percent are women and girls. According to the 2025 report of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR), women and girls stand out as the most vulnerable group to gender-based violence and abuse. Thirty-six million refugee women are at risk of being deprived of essential women’s services.

 

The situation is also critical in education. Nearly 46 percent of refugee children cannot access schooling. This rate is even higher among girls and deepens social inequality in the long term. In higher education, only 9 percent of young refugees are able to enroll in university. UNHCR’s 2025 Education Report states that difficulties in accessing education also increase psychosocial and security risks.

 

There are also major challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. According to the 2025 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 38 percent of displaced women in Syria and neighboring regions cannot access essential health services or gender-based violence support mechanisms. Lack of psychological support and legal assistance leaves women vulnerable to both domestic and societal violence.

 

In Turkey, according to the March 2025 report of the International Organization for Migration – Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM/DTM), women and children among the approximately 3.7 million Syrians under temporary protection face serious risks in accessing shelter, hygiene and safe living spaces. Overcrowded and insecure housing in particular heightens the risk of exploitation and violence.

 

According to the Greece-Germany based civil society organization Equal Rights Beyond Borders (Equal Rights), which provides legal support for people forced to migrate, women on the migration route face both legal and practical protection gaps and are subjected to sexual violence.

 

Despite this picture, Europe’s migration regime continues to harden. The new Migration and Asylum Reform approved by the EU Council in 2024 has been described by human rights organizations as a step that “weakens the right to protection,” as it accelerates border procedures and expands data collection and detention practices. In Germany, newly implemented skilled migration laws aim to address labor shortages but are criticized for enabling accelerated deportations of those whose asylum applications have been rejected. In Greece, the strict migration law passed in 2025, which criminalizes unauthorized stay, has drawn international criticism for criminalizing asylum seekers and paving the way for prolonged detention. Rights groups emphasize that security-oriented policies across the EU push refugee women and children into greater precarity.

 

Anne Pertsch, lawyer and project coordinator based in Equal Rights Berlin Office, spoke to Mezopotamya Agency (MA) on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 November) about the situation of refugees and the organization’s work.

 

 

‘THE NEW LAWS STRENGTHEN EXTERNALIZATION, NOT PROTECTION’

 

Stating that they advocate for every individual to have access to free and high-quality legal assistance and that they provide legal support throughout the entire asylum process, Anne Pertsch said: “We specifically focus on addressing human rights violations and enforcing access to humane living conditions and treatment. We also have specific focal projects, for example on detention—which, unfortunately, has been a major focus in recent years—on family reunification, and on supporting survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.”

 

Referring to new migration laws introduced in European countries and Greece, Anne Pertsch noted that migration and asylum are areas where new laws and changing practices frequently emerge. She continued: “In general, when I think about whether the new laws adequately protect rights, I would say that the vast majority of laws and practices introduced in recent years do not aim to protect people but rather to further strengthen externalisation efforts and deterrence policies. Basic human rights have been widely disregarded, and protection measures or support mechanisms are scarcely foreseen or even acknowledged. Additionally, in terms of legislation, we have seen a drastic increase in hostility and discrimination—first and foremost towards people on the move, but also towards those who try to defend and enforce human rights. This has increasingly been reflected in the law in recent years.”

 

Providing examples of new practices, Anne Pertsch said: “To give one example: Germany’s suspension of the right to family reunification through embassy procedures for persons with subsidiary protection. This mainly affects Syrians, and it was introduced with that population in mind. Many people have been waiting for years—most of them in Turkey—for their files to be processed by the embassy so they could be approved for family reunification and travel legally to Germany. Now all these applications have been suspended, meaning that even people who have been waiting for five years have had their files frozen. This clearly disregards the right to family life not only under the European Convention on Human Rights, but also under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In our experience, this suspension has already led to changes in both Greece and Germany. Over the last months, we have seen an increase in single Syrian mothers arriving in Greece from Turkey. Many of them had ongoing visa procedures and were waiting for the embassy’s decision on their family reunification request. After the suspension, they decided to continue their journey towards Europe. Once in the EU, after applying for asylum, they inform the Greek authorities about their family members in other EU countries, leading them to request these countries to take over the asylum procedure of the persons concerned under the Dublin III Regulation so that the family can be reunited. In the last months, we supported more than 100 such cases—around 90% of them involving Germany and most involving Syrians. The husbands, spouses, and fathers are already in Germany under subsidiary protection. So we can already see an increase in people having to enter the EU irregularly even though there should have been a legal, far less dangerous route—especially for the women and children involved.”

 

‘THERE IS DANGER AT EVERY STEP’

 

Highlighting that women are more vulnerable during displacement and migration processes, Anne Pertsch said: “There is a real danger of sexual and gender-based violence at every stage of the journey—whether in the country of origin, during the escape, in the camps, or during onward travel in Europe. According to the United Nations, 90% of women who have crossed the Mediterranean Sea have experienced gender-based violence in the form of rape. Women do not find any form of protection in the camps; in fact, the danger is even higher. There are no support mechanisms, let alone protection mechanisms. There is a lack of safe spaces, shared sanitary facilities, rooms that cannot be locked, and a general overcrowding of camps—in both Greece and Germany. The situation at Greece’s external borders, especially on the islands, is even more dire. Overall, we have always seen a lack of sensitised staff in the camps, which adds to the danger for women, especially for those travelling alone. At every stage of the procedure, women face risks and difficulties. There are no safe spaces; sanitation is overcrowded; hygiene products are insufficient; food is lacking and unhealthy. Over the years, we have repeatedly heard from mothers who struggled to breastfeed because of malnutrition, with no alternative food being offered. There are no complaints mechanisms or safeguards, and no access to basic medical treatment. For example, last year on Kos, for 10 months there was no doctor available, even though at peak times 4,000 people were staying in the camp. So women simply had no access to medical treatment—not to mention psychological care, which is unimaginable on the islands. In short, there is danger at every step.”

 

‘PRACTICALLY A DETENTION CENTER’

 

Emphasizing that the dangers faced by women and children are extremely serious and varied, Anne Pertsch noted that the situation is particularly dangerous for children in the border camps, which are not designed for them. She highlighted that the situation is even more critical for unaccompanied minors, who have not been transferred to mainland shelters for a long time, and are instead placed in so-called “safe zones.” Pertsch explained: “These are supposed to be specific areas to separate unaccompanied minors from other residents of the camp, but they are closed areas, and minors cannot leave except when they have a hospital appointment, in which case they are accompanied by police. So they are effectively detention centres. The conditions inside the safe zones are extremely hard to describe—partly because no lawyer or NGO has access, except for the one organisation that works inside, and cooperation with them is difficult. Last year, one organisation in Samos managed to enter the safe zone and reported on the dire situation. We also managed this year to represent unaccompanied minors from Leros and Kos who were stuck in the safe zone in horrible conditions. It was overcrowded by more than 200%. There were not enough beds, so children shared mattresses or slept on the floor. The containers they lived in were broken, leading to flooding from toilets throughout the area. There was a lot of violence due to the conditions and the frustration of being stuck. We supported more than 28 minors before the European Court of Human Rights, and the Court ordered their release from the safe zone and transfer to child-friendly accommodation on the mainland. However, even this decision took time to be implemented.”

 

Noting that there are almost no support mechanisms for women in Greece, Anne Pertsch said that due to funding cuts by international organizations, programs for women and the number of NGOs assisting them have declined. She added: “. Even the mechanisms available under national law for everyone—not specifically designed for people on the move—are not accessible for women on the move. For example, filing a complaint at a police station after an incident is extremely difficult. In several cases, the police asked survivors to pay €100 to register a complaint, which is clearly unlawful and made it impossible for survivors to proceed. Only with persistent legal assistance were we able to convince the police that they could not charge someone to file a sexual assault complaint. This shows the absence of genuine protection and support mechanisms. The situation in Germany is slightly better, but mostly on paper. There are still funding issues, insufficient spaces in women’s shelters, and movement restrictions during the asylum procedure, which makes access to protection extremely limited.”

 

‘THE GREATEST RESILIENCE IS SIMPLY SURVIVING IN THE CAMPS’

 

Speaking about how women endure and show solidarity during migration and in the camps, Anne Pertsch said that building solidarity structures in camps is almost impossible. She said: “I think a major form of resilience is simply surviving in these camps as a woman. Women go through so much, yet they try to maintain a sense of normal life: taking care of children if they have them, sticking together, forming small support groups. It is always remarkable how information spreads among women—how one woman will share what she learns with others, and how they think together about solutions, such as approaching us. This is probably the only form of resilience possible in these camps.”

 

Anne Pertsch also addressed the Closed Controlled Access Centers (CCAC), the new type of detention and accommodation facilities for migrants and asylum seekers introduced on the Greek islands from the mid-2020s onward. “In the past, when we thought about resilience and solidarity among people on the move, we thought of Moria—an open but horrific place where people could still move. But the new Closed Controlled Access Centres on the islands are essentially detention centres. Everything is controlled and blocked. It is incredibly hard to maintain any semblance of a normal life. The resilience we see is the ability to keep going day by day,” she said.

 

EQUAL RIGHTS’ WORK

 

Anne Pertsch said that as Equal Rights they adopt a holistic legal approach, trying to support in every step of the procedures. Also by working in cooperation with organizations providing social, medical and psychological support, they try to support a person holistically. They provide legal support to migrants, handle legal procedures in gender-based violence cases, and cooperate with shelters to place individuals in safe accommodation. She added that they have projects focusing on family reunification for children, stating: “We run a project on family reunification, which is a major way to support children—including those who arrive with a parent. It is the fastest way to get them out of camps, and we believe that the best support for a child—or anyone—is to help them leave the camps and reunite with their parents, siblings, or other relatives. We also support many unaccompanied minors to ensure their basic human rights and decent living conditions.” She also said they provide trainings for lawyers, raise awareness by reporting on conditions, generate resources for legal cases, and bring delegations to the camps to observe the situation on the ground.

 

Anne Pertsch emphasized that while their work is particularly effective for the individuals they represent, strategic litigation also leads to structural changes in procedures and practices. She stated that as part of 25 November, they aim to highlight the situation of women and survivors of sexual violence in Greece, raise awareness and explain how support can be provided.

 

‘EUROPE MUST PUT THE INDIVIDUAL BACK AT THE CENTER OF POLICY’

 

Noting that there are many important issues faced by migrants, Anne Pertsch said the increasingly alarming restriction of access to asylum in recent times is especially concerning: “Especially in the last year, the drastic increase in denying access to asylum—through pushbacks at external borders, internal borders such as Germany’s, or even administrative orders denying the right to asylum, as Greece did for people arriving on Crete—is extremely alarming. Poland is also doing this. At the same time, we have increasing discrimination and persecution of people on the move—particularly in Greece—and also of human rights defenders. Another major issue is the mass detention of people on the move, which will become even more legalised under this year’s reform, which is very concerning. From a political perspective and from the standpoint of European institutions, it is outrageous how openly rights and safeguards ensured by international law are being disregarded when it comes to people on the move. This is deeply worrying—not only from a human rights perspective but also in terms of the rule of law and democracy.”

 

She concluded: “There are so many urgent improvements needed. But to keep it broad: before any real change can happen, Europe must turn away from policies of deterrence and externalisation and put the individual back at the centre of policymaking. Without this shift, there will be no meaningful improvement.”

 

MA / Hivda Çelebi