The Greek government is offering lawyers a 250-euro bonus if their migrant clients apply for voluntary departure within ...

The Greek government is offering lawyers a 250-euro bonus if their migrant clients apply for voluntary departure within two months of receiving legal advice. The policy is part of a new Joint Ministerial Decision on legal aid for asylum seekers, and it has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts and civil society groups. Critics argue the financial incentive creates a direct conflict of interest. A lawyer's job is to inform clients of their rights and available options, not to steer them toward a particular outcome. Tying extra pay to a client's decision to leave the country effectively rewards attorneys for outcomes that serve the government's immigration targets rather than the individual's legal interests. The controversy doesn't stop at the bonus. The same ministerial decision allows Ministry of Migration officials to evaluate lawyers and to be present during their private meetings with clients. Legal professionals say that provision is an outright attack on attorney-client privilege, which is the foundation of any trusted legal relationship. To Vima, which reported on the measure, drew a pointed parallel to the Shakespeare line about killing the lawyers first, noting that weakening legal defenders is historically the first move against the rule of law. Whether or not that framing is overstated, the structural question is real. A system where lawyers are financially incentivized to push clients toward departure and then monitored by government officials during private consultations raises serious questions about whether asylum seekers are receiving independent legal counsel at all. The Greek government has the authority to set its own migration policy, and it will be judged on the results. But the way it organizes that policy also signals how seriously it takes due process in one of Europe's most contested and high-stakes areas of governance. #Greece #Immigration #AsylumPolicy