living on Greek islands and in ‘Reception and
Identification Centres’, who are considered to
be “in transit”.
According to national legislation, asylum
seekers and members of their families are
entitled to free access to public health services.
However, in practice, asylum seekers routinely
face difficulties in accessing healthcare due to
administrative barriers, a general lack of capaci-
ty at hospitals as well as a lack of interpreters or
cultural mediators.
The system of appointing a guardian for
unaccompanied children is dysfunctional as
the public prosecutor for children or the public
prosecutor of the local first-instance court who
acts as a provisional guardian cannot handle the
large number of children referred to him or her.
The limited capacity of accommodation facili-
ties dedicated to unaccompanied and separated
children under the National Centre for Social
Solidarity (EKKA) deprives children of the
special reception conditions they are entitled
to. Due to the lack of appropriate places, many
children remain in camps or transit facilities
under substandard conditions. NGO-operated
shelters partially cover the public service gap
by offering accommodation and protection to
unaccompanied and separated children that
have come to Greece in recent years.
The child protection system is currently being
reformed in order to address structural prob-
lems and pre-existing challenges in the area of
guardianship and the alternative care of chil-
dren deprived of parental care. Nevertheless,
new draft laws on guardianship, foster care and
adoption have not yet been adopted.
THE PRACTICE
This case study focuses on one of the four
facilities for unaccompanied and separated chil-
dren that SOS Children's Villages Greece has
established in order to respond to the increased
need for safe accommodation and protection for
unaccompanied and separated children.
The facility has been established in cooperation
with the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and
Social Solidarity, and also with the support of
UNICEF until July 2017.
The facility is able to accommodate up to 25
people and was initially intended to host unac-
companied and separated children aged 14–18
regardless of residence and migration status.
Recently, due to urgent requests by EKKA, the
facility has also started taking in boys below 13
years of age.
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The main goal is to safeguard the fundamen-
tal rights of unaccompanied and separated
children, to protect and keep them safe while
helping them to integrate into Greek society.
A range of services and activities are provided
to meet the needs of each individual child. In
addition to accommodation and care, children
have access to psychosocial support, legal aid,
mediation services as well as educational and
recreational activities.
Psychosocial support includes individual case
management, group sessions (with a focus on
life skills, promoting resilience and strength-
ening social cohesion within the house) and
individual counselling to address substance
abuse, loss, anxiety, self-harm and other issues.