On the 23rd of February Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, and Swiss State Secretary for Migration, Christine Schraner Burgener, signed the first support measure agreement within the framework of the Swiss-Greek Cooperation program. With this support measure, Greece and Switzerland support five Emergency Accomodation Facilities for Unaccompanied Migrant Children on mainland Greece.

Newly arrived unaccompanied migrant children in precarious living conditions are placed in Emergency Accomodation Facilities where they have access to basic services and receive professional care by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). These facilities play an integral role in the National Emergency Response Mechanism, which was initiated in 2021 in order to decrease the number of unaccompanied migrant children in precarious living conditions.

Project description

Background    

Over the last years and due to the large migration movements, Greece has been placing significant efforts on managing migration and addressing the needs of Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UMC) arriving in the country. Since 2018, the UMC’s presence in Greece has been increasing. Therefore, actions have been taken for managing the portfolio of unaccompanied children through targeted interventions, undertaken by the Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors (SSPUAM) with the support of UN agencies (IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). In this context, the Government of Greece (GoG) implemented various interim emergency measures as a national response to the need to provide migrant children immediate accommodation. Specifically, the accommodation capacity for UMC in short-term accommodation settings was increased. Additionally the capacity of long-term care arrangements has also been enhanced.

Objectives

The Support Measure is intended to contribute to the improvement of infrastructure, in particular as far as reception conditions are concerned, as defined in the Framework Agreement of the Swiss-Greek Cooperation Programme. More specifically, it will contribute to the improvement of facilities that constitute a crucial step in the reception of vulnerable migrants, namely UMC.

Target groups

Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Greece

Activities

The Facilities will be run by IOM and relevant services will be provided by the IOM staff that will be deployed on a 24/7 basis. These include accommodation, catering, hygiene, security, internet access as well as the overall coordination and administrative actions needed to ensure smooth operation. IOM, will address holistically the needs of UMC by providing comprehensive protection support which will include, among others, the following: creation of a personalized action plan and identification of durable accommodation solutions, healthcare including mental health support, legal assistance, caregiving and recreational activities. Interpretation will be provided alongside all services, while transportation of UMC will be available to ensure their swift access to services.

Federal office responsible

Federal Department of Justice and Police / State Secretariat for Migration