Off the wire
• Afghan forces kill 9 militants, wounds 13 in northern district  • Islamic bonds, conventional bonds issuances pick up in Mideast  • 6,000 people flee IS attacks in northern Syria  • Zimbabwe likely to add its tenth "currency" in circulation soon: state media  • More Vietnamese enterprises close down in first 5 months  • CMC urges troops to study Xi's remarks on military reform  • 2nd LD: Larijani elected interim speaker of Iranian parliament  • Turkish new gov't wins vote of confidence  • Israeli right-wing party threatens to leave government if demands not met  • Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia agree to enhance cooperation to curb sea crimes  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Greece seeks better accommodation for unaccompanied minor refugees

Xinhua, May 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

"There is no life for me in Afghanistan. There is no life for children where there is war," Ahmet, a 15-year-old Afghan boy told Xinhua in a recent interview in a minors camp in the Greek island of Lesvos where the majority of the more than 1 million refugees and migrants have landed since 2015.

Ahmet is one of the thousands of unaccompanied minors arriving in Greece by the Aegean Sea fleeing war-torn countries. He doesn't want to go back to his family, although he misses his mother a lot.

He is one of the 75 minors who were recently relocated from the Detained Center of Moria to a minors camp at the village of Mantamados of Lesvos.

Ahmet came by boat after the implementation of the refugee deal between European Union and Ankara on March 20 and was kept in the Center of Moria for more than one month.

"It is highly important for children not to be detained and especially kept in conditions of extremely overcrowded," Yorgos Moschos, Greek Deputy Ombudsman for Children's Rights, told Xinhua after inspecting the minors camp of Mantamados.

Moschos also visited the Moria camp, the camps of Kara-Tepe and Pikpa where vulnerable refugee families are hosted, and children reception centers operated by NGOs.

"We watched the transportation of minors from Moria to Mantamados. At this camp, the minors will be hosted temporally, then moved to appropriate guest centers for children," Moschos told Xinhua. While four relocated kids are under 14 years old, the rest are mainly 16 or 17 years old.

Moschos said that UNHCR, the municipality of Lesvos and the North Aegean Regional Administration plan to build new minors guest centers for unaccompanied children. The Ombusdman for Children's Rights will coordinate these efforts.

Statistics from the National Center for Social Solidarity (EKKA) showed that there are at least 1,600 unaccompanied minors in Greece, who need urgent assistance from local and European authorities to survive and move forward in life.

At the moment there are only 535 seats in 22 minors guest centers in Greece, with 460 demands from minors in the country for a seat.

Experts expressed serious concerns regarding the safety and the protection of the rights of children on the move in Europe, following the agreement between the EU and Turkey. They call for the immediate relocation of unaccompanied minors and urge the EU to pay due attention and consideration to the particularly vulnerable children on the move. Endit