Mistreatment of Children

Unaccompanied children often fare no better than adult migrants. An estimated 1,000 unaccompanied migrant and asylum-seeking children entered Greece in 2008. Despite legislation that recognizes, to an extent, the government’s obligations to care for and protect these children, the situation on the ground is woeful. In a December 2008 report, “Left to Survive: Systematic Failure to Protect Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Greece,” Human Rights Watch documented how Greek authorities routinely detain unaccompanied children for prolonged periods, often in the same cell with adults, and in conditions that could be considered inhuman and degrading. Even outside of detention, they confront a daily struggle to survive. There is no social safety net, even for the most vulnerable, and many are at risk of exploitation.

Brutality by officials is common. Sixteen-year-old Jafar, traveling with two other boys, described their encounter with the port police in Patras: “First they threw my bag into the sea, and then [us]. 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.”

Children have also been prevented from seeking asylum. Sixteen-year-old Ali arrived alone at Athens airport from an African country in February 2008. He tried to apply for asylum at the passport-control counter but didn’t speak any Greek or English. He was detained at the Petrou Ralli detention center for two months. He told Human Rights Watch that he was not given an opportunity to ask for asylum, and he never was provided with an interpreter.

Some children are trafficked into Greece. Because the country lacks adequate identification procedures and interpreters, these children are neither identified nor protected. One boy, who had been released from detention and was on the way to meet one of the smuggler’s contacts, said he would be kept “like a prisoner” by the man who smuggled him if his uncle back home did not pay the agreed US$6,000 smuggling fee. Others are at risk of falling into the hands of trafficking networks once they are in Greece. A 14-year-old unaccompanied Afghan boy told Human Rights Watch how a stranger approached him in a park, promising free passage to another European country for him or other children who had not been fingerprinted by the Greek authorities.