Most asylum bids for unaccompanied minors in Greece rejected in 2022: Save the Children
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Fewer than a third of all unaccompanied minor migrants in Greece succeeded in getting their asylum requests approved last year, says charity Save the Children. The rest of the applications were rejected or remained in limbo, according to the aid agency.
Only 981 out of 3,175 — or 31% — of asylum requests filed in Greece by unaccompanied children were accepted last year. That’s according to a press release by NGO Save the Children, which was published on Thursday (July 27).
In the document, the charity called for better protection of this particularly vulnerable group of migrants:
“These figures suggest many lone children on the move were denied the right to protection and left without the legal documentation needed to enable them to remain in the country,” Save the Children said in the press release.
Close to 10,000 irregular migrant arrivals have been registered in Greece so far this year, making the EU member state one of the main routes used by migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa to reach the European Union.
According to UNHCR data from January of this year, more than one in five of them are children.
Last month’s migrant boat disaster off southern Greece, in which up to 100 minors reportedly lost their lives, once again highlighted the dangers that migrant and refugee children are exposed to while trying to reach European shores.
Read more: Child migrants are dying crossing the Mediterranean, but why are they leaving?
Children in a ‘state of insecurity’
Save the Children argues that bureaucracy is the main reason why such a high rate of migrant minors have to live in a state of limbo without any documentation in Greece.
“When I didn’t have papers, and was waiting to get registered, it was like a prison,” a 14-year-old Iraqi minor is quoted as saying in the press release. “I didn’t have the possibility to leave the camp, go to the market, see where we are — I spent all my time on my mobile phone.”
Being undocumented makes the already precarious situation for unaccompanied minors worse by increasing the risk of them encountering violence, abuse and exploitation, the NGO said:
“Undocumented children live in a state of insecurity and fear of deportation. This fear is particularly sharp for children who are mistakenly registered as adults,” the press release reads.
Asylum claims rejected on bureaucratic principles
Another reason why so many children are rejected or remain in processing for a long time is the fact that Greek authorities have been applying the ‘safe third country’ principle more diligently, Save the Children added.
Under the principle, children have to explain to authorities why they didn’t apply for asylum in the first safe country they had passed through en route to Greece — such as Turkey.
Oftentimes, they report that they have to tell lies as instructed by the smugglers that brought them to Greece, or explain to authorities that they simply didn’t know how asylum works, which in itself can be seen as grounds for rejection if there are other aggravating circumstances.
Save the Children said that unaccompanied migrant and refugee minors with rejected asylum requests need “a special residence permit,” better access to mental health and other medical services.
It also called on Greece to provide this vulnerable group with more educational opportunities.
Read more: Children refugees’ mental health: The unseen scars of trauma
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