Greece: Government failing migrant children

Greece: Government failing migrant children
Posted by: "HREA noreply@hrea.org" HREA noreply@hrea.org msgiri_bebl
Tue Dec 23, 2008 6:44 am (PST)
POSTED BY: HREA noreply@hrea. org

Subject: Greece: Government failing migrant children

*EU Should Press Greece to Take Action*

(Athens) 22 December 2008 -- Some 1,000 unaccompanied migrant children who
have entered Greece in 2008 without parents or caregivers struggle to
survive without any state assistance, Human Rights Watch said in a new
report issued today. Although a member of the European Union, Greece flouts
its most basic obligations when it comes to meeting the rights of these
children, many of whom come from war-torn countries, including Afghanistan,
Somalia, and Iraq, with special protection needs.

The 111-page report, "Left to Survive: Systematic Failure to Protect
Unaccompanied Migrant Children in
Greece,"
documents the plight of the majority of unaccompanied children who have
entered Greece and end up in a daily fight for survival.

"Greece completely fails to protect these children. They work in dangerous
and exploitative jobs, they beg, and they live in squalid places or sleep in
parks," said Simone Troller, children's rights researcher at Human Rights
Watch. "Instead of making sure they're being cared for, officials leave them
living on the street without any assistance whatsoever."

The Human Rights Watch report also documents abuses of these children at the
hands of Greek officials, including coast guards, regular police and port
police officers. Unaccompanied children are at risk of incidents of torture,
such as mock executions, and inhuman or degrading treatment, including
routine kickings and beatings. Officials routinely detain unaccompanied
children, including girls as young as 10. Children are often held with
adults in detention, adding to their vulnerability.

Most children face huge obstacles to seek asylum in Greece and their chances
of being recognized as refugees are close to zero. Furthermore, should
children ask for asylum but decide to travel on to another European country,
they might be sent back to Greece under the EU's Dublin II regulation, which
permits EU member states to transfer an unaccompanied child to the EU
country where the asylum application was first filed.

"These children find themselves trapped in Greece. They don't receive state
assistance, they can't leave the country legally, they are without regular
status in Greece, and they can't return home," said Troller.

In such a desperate situation, unaccompanied children face the additional
risk of becoming prey to trafficking gangs. A 14-year-old boy who lived
without state assistance told Human Rights Watch how a stranger had
approached him in a park with a promise to take him abroad: "One person told
me he could take children to Europe. ... He told me there is a lady from
another European country and she wants to bring children to another country.
That lady would come and bring other children abroad if they didn't have
their fingerprints taken. They asked me if I wanted to go. He told me it
would not cost anything. ... They only want children who are alone. He told
me that lady was from a refugee organization, maybe UNICEF."

"These children often flee war and violence and have nobody to take care of
them. They are among the most vulnerable groups in Greece and the
government's indifference hits them hardest," said Troller. "A meaningful
and direct message from the EU that it will not tolerate such practice is
long overdue."

The report contains recommendations to the government of Greece and the
European Union, including:

* EU member states should suspend sending unaccompanied children back to
Greece under the EU's Dublin II regulation and the European Commission
should consider infringement procedures against Greece for failing to meet
its legal obligations regarding adequate reception conditions for
unaccompanied children and minimum standards on procedures for granting and
withdrawing refugee status;
* The government of Greece should immediately prioritize these children's
protection by keeping track of every child and by making sure children are
safe and well looked after, and it should refrain from detaining them,
except as a proportionate measure of last resort;
* Greek officials must stop ill-treating unaccompanied children; and
* Authorities must promptly investigate any allegation of violence at the
hands of state officials, hold perpetrators accountable, and publicly
condemn such acts.

Selected Accounts by Unaccompanied Migrant Children

Sixteen-year- old Jafar F. from Afghanistan told Human Rights Watch how he
and two other boys were subjected to ill-treatment by four port police
officers in Patras:

"They arrested me. First, they threw my bag into the sea, and then . They
took us out and beat us. I was thrown inside the sea, taken out, and beaten,
thrown into the water again, taken out, and beaten again."

A 12-year-old Afghan girl, Sharzad P., was detained in a border police
station in the Evros region for 11 days without being allowed outside. She
described that place as follows:

"I didn't have a bed, only a blanket. The blanket was dirty and there were a
lot of bugs - bugs that bite. We were bitten during the night. We couldn't
sleep. We were scratching our skin all the time."

Fifteen-year- old Adisa P. from Nigeria had applied for asylum but was left
on his own. He was sleeping in public parks when Human Rights Watch met him:

"I still don't have a place for me to live. ... Now I sleep out on the
streets. I don't live anywhere. I have cold to my body. I don't feel safe. I
walk around to after 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. Then I find a park to sleep in."

Fourteen-year- old Wali P. from Afghanistan told us how he earns a living by
working in hazardous jobs in the construction sector:

"I walk up on wooden beams, as high as five floors. The is dangerous to walk
up on and it's difficult to keep the balance with one big bucket on a small
beam. My friend fell down from the second floor onto the scaffold . He
injured his hand. ... He went to the hospital and was in hospital for two
weeks."

Human Rights Watch Press release

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