Human Rights Lawyers & Advocates Working Beyond Borders
We are an international and multilingual team of human rights lawyers, advocates and interpreters. We work from our main offices in Athens and Berlin, and our field offices on the islands of Chios and Kos.
All of our services are free of charge, because we believe that all people should know about their rights and have access to high quality legal support.
Our Athens Office
Our largest office in Athens provides free legal aid, develops and implements strategic litigation, and raises awareness for human rights violations through advocacy. Given the systemic violation of the rights of people on the move, providing legal support to those most in need is essential.
Apart from the daily legal aid work, the Athens office implements five further projects.
In addition, the Athens office covers accounting, general administration, and human resources for all our offices in Greece.
Our Athens Team
Anastasia Balta
Lawyer
Aora Helmzadeh
Monitoring & Caseworker
Aora Helmzadeh is a journalist and artist from Iran. She studied sociology in Iran and filmmaking at the berlin film school.
Christina Svana
Lawyer
Christina has been an Attorney at Law since 2011, graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and holder of a master’s degree in public law and political science. She was a member of the Asylum Appeals’ Committees indicated by the UNHCR from 2014 to 2017 and afterwards she has worked as a lawyer with Greek and international NGOs in the field of migration. She's specialized in child protection and SGBV cases. Christina joined Equal Rights Beyond Borders in 2024 and she is the focal person of the detention project.
Giorgos Maniatis
Administrative Coordinator
Iliana Bompou
Lawyer & Coordination
Ioanna Pavlou
Lawyer & Coordination
Mustafa Noah
Interpreter & Caseworker
Mustafa works as an Arabic interpreter and cultural mediator. He has a vast experience in translation for various non-state and state organisations. After having supported us since 2018 as a volunteer, he joined our team on a permanent basis in 2021.
Niki Georgiou
Director Greece & Member of Management Board
Niki is a Law School graduate from the National and Capodistrian University of Athens, and she holds an LLM in Human Rights from the University of Strasbourg. Niki joined Equal Rights Beyond Borders in 2017 on Chios, co-founded the Athens office, and is heading our Geek offices since 2020.
Our Berlin Office
Our Berlin office is responsible for strategic litigation and general coordination. We believe that human rights violations at the EU's external border are a European issue. When people on the move are forced to stay in inhumane camps, illegally detained and deported, or denied the right to family reunification, this concerns us all.
In our Berlin office, we work on six projects.
Further, our Berlin office does all the essential background work: fundraising, accounting, general administration, social media, human resources and IT infrastructure are indispensable for our work.
Our Berlin Team
Anne Pertsch
Lawyer & Member of the Management Board
Anne is working with our team in Berlin as a project coordinator. She studied law in Leipzig and passed her second bar exam at the Kammergericht Berlin. She has profound experience in asylum law, with a particular focus on transnational administrative procedures. Anne joined Equal Right Beyond Borders in 2017 in Chios and has been working with our Berlin office since 2018.
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IT Admin
Helen Zaiser
Office Manager (Parental Leave)
Helen is working with Equal Rights Beyond Boarders as the office manager in the Berlin office since 2023. She studied International and Cultural Business Studies and Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability in Barcelona. Helen has formerly worked in food education.
Jamie Kessler
Coordination & Member of Management Board
Robert Nestler
Director & Member of Management Board
Robert is the Director of Equal Rights Beyond Borders. He co-founded Equal Rights Beyond Borders in 2016 and has worked with us ever since.
Sarah Oechsle
Finances
Serafina Serra
With an academic background in Indian languages and civilizations, Serafina has deeply rooted her studies in postcolonial theory, offering nuanced perspectives on historical and contemporary issues. Over the years, Serafina has channeled this academic insight into meaningful engagement with refugees and migrants, collaborating to impactful projects in the social and cultural sectors.
Her professional journey spans fundraising, communication, and project coordination.
Our Chios Office
Our office in Chios provides free legal aid to people on the move who are forced to stay in the "EU hotspot" camp Vial, and raises awareness through advocacy work. While the "EU hotspots" are no longer in the centre of media attention, systemic human rights violations continue. We have been continuously present in Chios since 2016 and are determined to stay as long as the rights of people on the move are disregarded by EU agencies and Greek authorities. In our Chios office we also focus on representing survivors of SGBV.
The Chios office works on five projects.
Our Chios Team
Athena Kollia
Lawyer
Athena is a registered lawyer in Athens Bar Association , graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and holder of a master’s degree in political Sociology and Comparative Politics at Panteion University. She has been working on international protection and migration field since 2020. Athena joined Equal Rights Beyond Borders in November 2023.
Irini Ntali
Interpreter & Caseworker
Vivian Gleni
Lawyer & Coordination
Vivian holds a Law degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and is a member of Piraeus Bar Association since 2010. In 2017, she worked in Chios as a lawyer at the NGO “METAdrasi” Legal Aid program and later as a member of Metadrasi Guardianship Network for Unaccompanied Minors. She joined Equal Rights Beyond Borders in 2020.
Our Kos Office
In Kos, we provide free legal aid to those most in need and raise awareness through advocacy work. While the "EU hotspots" are no longer in the centre of media attention, systemic human rights violations are ongoing. This is why we opened our Kos office in 2021. We won’t look away. We are there and determined to stay as long as the rights of people on the move are disregarded by EU agencies and Greek authorities.
The Kos office works on five projects.
Our Kos Team
Christina Balta
Lawyer & Coordination
Christina is a graduate of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Law School and is currently pursuing her LLM in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. She was first licensed as a lawyer in 2010. She has worked as a case worker and Coordinator of Piraeus Regional Office of the Greek Asylum Service, and subsequently as an advocate of people on the move in camp-based, urban and border-island contexts. Christina joined Equal Rights Beyond Borders in September 2023.
Maria Eleni Kosmopoulou
Attorney at Law
Sofia Dede
Lawyer
Sofia is a graduate of Democritus University of Thrace, Law School and member of Nafplio Bar Association since 2015. In 2020, she worked in Kos as lawyer-member of GCR's legal unit - UNHCR legal aid program for general refugee population. She join our office on Kos in 2022.