In its most recent evaluation report on Greece, released on June 9, 2022, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has demanded that Greece cease its detention of refugee youth and reform its policies towards refugee children, which violate their rights as per the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. During the months of April and May, the UNCRC reviewed evidence provided by Still I Rise (SIR) and I HAVE RIGHTS (IHR) that demonstrate human rights violations of children on Samos. SIR and IHR raised specific concerns regarding de facto detention and inhumane living conditions, deficiencies in age and vulnerability assessment procedures, lack of access to asylum, and lack of services. <\/p>
Thanks partly to the evidence we provided, the UNCRC has officially acknowledged violations of the rights of the child by the Greek government and have confirmed SIR and IHR\u2019s concerns regarding the state of refugee children and Unaccompanied Minors (UAMs). Ultimately, this report supports our advocacy efforts to grant appropriate and legally mandated living conditions, services and access to asylum as per the human rights standards enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child. <\/p>
UNCRC\u2019s Evaluation of Greece\u2019s Violations<\/strong><\/p> In its Concluding Observations, the UNCRC clearly states that they acknowledge \u201cnumerous violations of the rights of asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children in Greece.\u201d This contradicts the official Greek narrative and is in line with SIR and IHR\u2019s perspective. Within the report, the UNCRC validated all four topics of concern raised by SIR and IHR. <\/p> De Facto Detention and Inhumane Living Conditions<\/strong><\/p> The UN\u2019s report clearly acknowledged Greece\u2019s use of \u201cimmigration detention of children for identification purposes\u201d and the unfortunate reality of \u201cprecarious living conditions in reception centers (RICs) on the Aegean islands.\u201d In line with the concerns of SIR and IHR, which have witnessed and received testimony of people living in prison-like conditions, the Committee pressed the Greek government to \u201ccompletely ban the placing of children in immigration detention\u201d and to \u201cprioritize the immediate transfer of asylum-seeking children and their families out of detention centres.\u201d Additionally, the Committee headed SIR and IHR\u2019s calls to push the Greek government to provide refugees, asylum seekers, and UAMs with proper accomodation\u201doutside detention\u201d and to \u201cpromptly closing[close] \u201csafe zones,\u201d a tool used to further isolate UAMs from other parts of the facility. SIR and IHR arehave been vocal about the deplorable conditions in the Samos CCAC \u201csafe zone,\u201d where UAMs are supervised by untrained personnel and access to particular services, including formal education, is severely limited. <\/p> Deficiencies in Age and Vulnerability Assessment Procedures<\/strong><\/p> The Committee\u2019s Concluding Observations also noted the Greek government utilizes a \u201cgeneralized and inappropriate age determination procedure,\u201d which particularly affects UAMs on Samos. The Committee urged the Greek government to \u201censure that the age-determination procedure is\u2026respectful of children\u2019s rights,\u201d and more importantly, to use only in \u201ccases of serious doubt about the claimed age.\u201d As it currently stands, age-determination and vulnerability assessments are often led by untrained and unprepared personnel on Samos, a fact that SIR and IHR communicated in our submission to the UN.<\/p> Lack of Access to Asylum<\/strong><\/p> The report additionally notes that the asylum reform (Law 4636\/2019), otherwise known as the Internal Protection Alternative (IPA), lacks the \u201csafeguards to protect children\u2019s rights.\u201d The Committee called on the Greek government to review its legal obligations to \u201censure that\u2026appropriate safeguards in asylum proceedings are provided for children, including unaccompanied and separated children\u2026\u201d and that \u201cchildren are exempt from the accelerated border asylum procedures.\u201d On Samos, SIR and IHR have collected testimonies which suggest children are not adequately protected by the current law and are wrongly treated by the authorities.<\/p> Lack of Services<\/strong><\/p> Regarding the lack of services, including access to legal assistance, education, healthcare, and other social services, the Committee largely disapproved of Greece\u2019s present performance. The Committee urged Greece to \u201censure access to free legal aid\u2026essential services, including food and hygiene\u2026[and] healthcare,\u201d to \u201caddress the barriers hindering access to education,\u201d and to \u201cprovide all possible facilities, services and protection to all refugees on an equal basis with Ukrainian refugees.\u201d The Committee\u2019s recommendations cover a wide range of services that should legally be provided to refugee youth and UAMs. Yet as SIR and IHR indicated in our submission, the Greek government fails to provide the services it is obligated to do. On Samos, the conditions of the prison-like camp create severe mental health challenges for the people living there. At the same time, limited, and in some cases, zero access to essential services abandons those in need. This dynamic of isolation, enclosure, and withholding essential services from refugees and asylum-seekers is a truly cruel practice that must end. <\/p> From Law to Practice<\/strong><\/p> Thanks in part to the evidence provided by SIR and IHR, the UNCRC has officially recognized human rights violations against refugee and UAM children and pressed the Greek government to uphold its legal responsibilities. However, the UNCRC\u2019s Concluding Observations will not impact their present situation unless the Greek government change its current practices. We thus continue our fight, now with backing from the UNCRC, in pushing the Greek government to provide refugees and asylum-seekers with the rights and services they are legally guaranteed.<\/p> Relevant Articles:<\/p> UNCRC has demanded that Greece cease its detention of refugee youth and reform its policies towards refugee children<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPh. Credits: Romy van Baarsen<\/h5>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"