Greece has succesfully relocated over 1,200 migrant unaccompanied children in the last two years to other EU countries, claims the Athens government.
Greece has relocated a total of 1,271 unaccompanied children to 13 EU Member States in the last two years, according to an update from the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.
The country's support framework for unaccompanied children has been strengthened in the best interests of those young migrants through the continuation of the successful Voluntary Relocation Program.
Another 10 unaccompanied boys from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cameroon and Somalia left last week, completing 57% of the program's commitment, stated the Ministry. The destination for last week's contingent of children was Portugal.
Transnational partnerships
Starting in April 2020, the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors, a department within the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum has effectively contributed to the orderly and safe relocation of those unaccompanied children, "faithfully following international conventions through the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that were developed and were agreed with all the agencies involved", read a statement to the press.
"The Voluntary Resettlement Program is supported by the European Commission, the cooperation of EU Member States and other countries and the direct contribution of the Asylum Service, international organizations such as IOM Greece, and UNHCR GREECE, the EU Agency for Asylum - EUAA and METAdrasi", said a statement released by Greece's Migration & Asylum last month.
Relocations still slow going
Despite the positive developments, the number of unaccompanied children in Greece remains close to the country's current capacity, with 2,224 in the country according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum for September.
This latest update comes on the back of announcements made by the European Union last month that the number of unaccompanied children who sought asylum in the European Union from 2021-2022 jumped by 72%.
This was a result of the number of refugees arriving from Afghanistan rising sharply, the bloc's statistics office Eurostat said last month.
Greece almost at capacity
According to the latest figures released by the Greek authorities, a total of 2,224 children remain in Greece currently, out of which: 88% are boys and 12% are girls. They are staying in various types of accommodation facilities in the country.
Overall, Greece has a total capacity of 2,304 places in various accommodation centers (Shelters/SIL apartments), and 180 places in emergency accommodation facilities.
The numbers have remained more or less stable since September 2021, pointing to the fact that continuous influxes of people make it difficult for Greece to reduce the number, as the process of relocating children to other EU countries is slow.