Nearly 1,900 unaccompanied children among refugees stranded in Greece need urgent aid: NGO

Among the most vulnerable refugees currently stranded in Greece are at least 1,900 unaccompanied minors who need urgent assistance from local and European authorities to have a chance to survive and move forward in life, a Greek NGO warned here on Thursday. 

   Over the past two decades, The Smile of the Child, a non-profit voluntary organization, has become one of the leading organizations defending children's rights in Greece. One million minors and their families have been helped by the NGO. 

   Some 400 doctors, psychologists, social workers and other experts supported by more than 2,350 volunteers on a 24-hour basis throughout the year are offering help to children suffering from physical or psychological abuse, serious health problems, poverty, and displacement. 

   During a press briefing held for the launch of a new European children's support hotline, the NGO's president Costas Yannopoulos presented some alarming data and statistics, urging for the prompt coordinated action of state authorities, humanitarian organizations, and citizens to protect refugee children.  

   According to UNICEF estimates, some 19,000 children are currently stranded in Greece after border closures in the Balkans and some 10 percent of them are unaccompanied, Yannopoulos said.

   These numbers most likely do not reflect the real size of the problem, since many unaccompanied teenagers are lying about their age in the hope that they can somehow continue the perilous journey to central Europe and not be kept in closed shelters as their asylum bids are processed, Yannopoulos explained. 

   "The only certainty is that especially these children need our help," he said, noting that unaccompanied refugee children are the easiest prey for exploitation, abuse and trafficking.

   According to Europol police agency, about 10,000 unaccompanied children registered after arriving in Europe over the past two years have disappeared somewhere in Europe. 

   From the start of 2015, the Smile of the Child has been involved in efforts to trace and save 75 missing unaccompanied refugee children. Forty-four such minors have received care alongside 340 children in one of the 14 shelters run by the NGO across Greece. Half of them have already been reunited with their families in other European countries. 

   "Our goal is to make the utmost effort to give an opportunity in life to each child living in Greece or passing through our country," Yannopoulos said.

   He stressed that in particular in the cases of missing children each hour passing by counts, and families and NGOs operating in refugee camps should not waste time to alert the police. 

   Only within the past month "The Smile of a Child" has provided aid to more than 12,000 refugee children across the country, from food and clothing to medical care, psychological support, and recreational activities. 

   Thursday's press briefing was interrupted by a call from northern Greece, as Yannopoulos was coordinating the transfer of an 8-day-old refugee baby suffering from a severe heart condition from Thessaloniki to Athens to receive medical care. 

   His Syrian parents fled the conflict and were staying in a temporary hospitality facility with their three older children when the baby was born. 

   The baby was transferred by a Greek airliner, a volunteer doctor also made the trip, while the NGO provided all necessary medical equipment. 

   "If we all join forces we will make it," Yannopoulos underlined, recalling the favorite phrase of his 10-year-old son Andreas who died of a serious health condition in 1995, inspiring the establishment of the "Smile of the Child." 

   The NGO has received several awards for its social contribution, but the best award for Costas Yannopoulos and all involved in the efforts is "the warm smile of each child who leaves our shelter."