TO
THE GREEK PRIME MINISTER, KYRIAKOSMITSOTAKIS
MINISTER OF MIGRATION AND ASYLUM, NOTIS MITARAKIS
ALTERNATE MINISTER OF MIGRATION, GEORGE KOUMOUTSAKOS
SPECIAL SECRETARY FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNACCOMPANIED MINORS, IRINI AGAPIDAKI
PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, DAVID SASSOLI
PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, CHARLES MICHEL
PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, URSULA VON DER LEYEN
Athens, 16 March 2020
The humanitarian, child protection and human rights organizations co-signing this letter have been actively involved in the refugee field for many years. In view of recent developments at the country’s borders, in particular those concerning people who have been in Greece since March 1st, first residing in a military naval shipat the port of Mytilene and then being transferred to the mainland, we would like to express our deep concern regarding the fact that among the newcomers, there are families with children, and (according to all indications) unaccompanied minorsfor whom we have no information.In addition, we express concern for those children living alone, without any protection, and in conditions of unacceptable negligencein SkalaSikamias (Lesbos), whose fate is also neglected. Therefore:
We would like to ask you to answer to the following questions:
It should be noted that according to the most recent data from the National Center for Social Solidarity (15th February 2020), there are 5,424 unaccompanied minors in the country, of whom 490 are under 14 years old, while 1,092 alone children are reported to be ‘living in insecure housing conditions, such as living temporarily in apartments with others, living in squats, being homeless and moving frequently between different types of accommodation”.
Since the commitments enshrined in the “No Child Alone” program have not been implemented yet (i.e. to create an adequate amount of long-term accommodation facilities with the necessary services and provisions for the 4,000 children outside of the official child protection system) – our concern for new arrivals is constantly increasing.
Based on the above we would like to kindly request:
We also kindly reiterate our appeals to:
We also call upon the member states of the European Union to show solidarity, follow the promising example of France, Germany, Portugal, Finland and Luxembourg and move forward with a fair relocation of unaccompanied children, while taking the necessary steps towards family reunification, andcreating a long-term integration strategy for Europe.
Concluding, we would like to recall that European Parliament President David Sassoli, following his recent visit to Evros, made a special reference to unaccompanied children, stressing the need “to show commitment and to create a long term inclusion strategy to protect thousands of children that arrive alone on Europe’s shores.”
As aid, human rights and child protection organizations, we will continue to provide services to children found in our country alone, driven by dangerous conditions in their country of origin and travelling via extremely hazardous routes. We are ready to assist your work whenever this is deemed necessary.
List of Signatories
* The foregoing organizations also co-sign the relevant letter of 6 March 2020:
https://reliefweb.int/report/greece/protect-our-laws-and-humanity-open-letter-85-organizations-enel