Meeting the needs of unaccompanied children in Greece

Abstract

This article summarizes the situation of unaccompanied child (UAC) refugees in Greece in 2017/2018. It notes the number and characteristics of these children, the challenging situation in responding to their needs in a country where many native children are living in poverty and deprivation following the EU austerity measures. This article also outlines the legal obligations and EU directives for looking after UACs. Finally, it summarizes the challenges for social workers on the ground of responding to the rights of the incoming UACs. Selected examples are presented with reference to the priorities under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989.

Keywords

Child refugees Greece impact of austerity safeguarding

Background

Greece has a population of 1,889,916 below the age of 18¹ (9.6% of the total according to the 2011 census), 181,000 of whom are migrants. Since 2015, the number of children has increased by 22,000 migrant and refugee children and 3270 unaccompanied children (UACs; data refer to 31 January 2018; National Centre for Social Solidarity, 2018).

The Greek welfare state shares similarities with that of the other three South European countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal; see Ferrera, 1996; Petmesidou, 2006). Since the establishment of the modern Greek state (1830), under conditions of deep poverty and disadvantage, the family has developed as a strongly bonded unit which supports, cares for and redistributes resources to its members. This interfamily dependency has become more prominent, given the weaknesses and inefficiencies of the Greek welfare state in meeting citizens’ needs (Petmesidou, 2006).

Migration and care of refugees in Greece have traditions that date back many centuries, inspired by values of humanity, social justice and the protection of the weak (particularly warfare orphans). Since the establishment of the Greek state in 1830, many different population groups have settled in the country temporarily or permanently, playing significant roles in the economic, cultural, political and social organization of the society. Refugee waves came from East Romelia after the Balkan wars (1912–1913) (Kotsiopoulos, 2012). Under the Treaty of Lausanne (30 Jan 1923) there was the first obligated population exchange in history. Most of the 350,000 Muslims from Greece went to Turkey, while more than 1,200,000 Orthodox Christian refugees from Turkey came to Greece.

In the 20th century, Greece exported workers for labour to the United States, Australia and Western Europe (West Germany, Belgium, Holland and Sweden) following World War II (1946–1977, 1,304,783 people) (Emke-Poulopoulou, 2007: 94).

After 1989, Greece became a destination country for migrants from the Balkans, Africa and Asia. Between 1991 and 2001, migrants formed 10 percent of the Greek population, with 55.6 percent from Albania of whom 45 percent were women (National Statistical Service of Greece, 2013).

As in Homer’s Odyssey, there is still nostos, the strong desire of Greeks to return home from afar. Times of high expatriation were accompanied by repatriation, either after retirement or in times of essential political changes in the country (e.g. 1974, the fall of the dictatorship; 1981, the election of a socialist government).

In the past decade, Greece has been faced with an enormous increase in both migration and refugees. Since 2008, due to the socio-economic crisis more than 427,000 young Greeks, mostly educated professionals, have emigrated, seeking their fortunes in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere (Bank of Greece, 2015).

From September 2015 to March 2016, there was a massive surge of refugees from the Middle East’s warring regions (Syria and Afghanistan) and the economically depressed areas of Africa. According to the International Organization for Migration, in 2015 (until 21 December) 821,008 people arrived in Greece (816,752 by sea and 4,256 by land), in 2014 it was 72,000 people (International Organisation for Migration, 2015). About 30 percent of the migrants were children, many of whom were unaccompanied or separated from their family members.

Greece was not prepared for such a massive influx of people with their associated economic and humanitarian needs. Local authorities and civil societies in the islands struggled to maintain control and meet refugees’ immediate needs.

But before the onset of the current ‘refugee crisis’ the demands of UACs for asylum were very different. UAC applicants for asylum in the period 2002–2007 were mostly 16–18 years old, of whom 95 percent were boys and about 50 percent were from Afghanistan. In 2002 there were 247 UACs, rising to 314 in 2003 and declining to 44 in 2007. Only a small proportion were under 14 (Dimitropoulou and Papageorgiou, 2008: 24).

The current dramatic surge in the number of UACs started in 2012 with 829 UAC applicants for asylum, and continued with 1150 in 2013 and 1500 in 2014. However, between 1 January 2016 and 15 October 2017, the total number of UACs referred to the National Centre for Social Solidarity had risen to 9673, of whom 9033 were boys (93%) and 640 girls (7%). Of these, 567 were under 14 years old (6%). So far, only 148 of 205 benefiters had been relocated or resettled elsewhere (National Centre for Social Solidarity, 2017).

The numbers arriving continue to rise. On 31 January 2018, 3270 UACs arrived, of whom 1083 have been placed in 48 hosting structures for UACs,² and 2312 including 195 separated children are on the waiting list for appropriate placement, while 89 young people are in police detention (protective custody) because there is no other place for them (National Centre for Social Solidarity, 2018).

A total of 93 percent of these arrivals are boys and 2.6 percent are girls between 14 and 18 years old, while 3.5 percent are boys and 0.8 percent are girls younger than 14 years. So far, 148 of 205 benefiters have been relocated in other European Union (EU) countries. Although in November 2016 the numbers of those coming from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan were relatively similar, in 2018 42.6 percent of UACs have come from Pakistan with only 12.6 percent from Syria, 24.4 percent from Afghanistan and 20.3 percent from other countries (mainly Africa) (National Centre for Social Solidarity, 2018).

These numbers, however, probably underestimate those arriving. All systems begin with registration and identification of unaccompanied minors, but registration may be incomplete or inaccurate (Kohli, 2007). Children may not be registered at all, not registered as unaccompanied, or erroneously registered as adults. With borders closed in Northern Greece, smugglers may encourage some children to resist registration, so they are free to make their own travel arrangements (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2017). UACs are very vulnerable to every sort of exploitation, violence and sexual abuse (Cemlyn and Briskman, 2003). Children may have firm instructions from their family to make their way to Germany and will have some money in order to pay their way. This means that they are attractive to smugglers. Many have mobile phones and are in contact with their family. The family hope that if the nominated child gets to Germany, this may ease the way for the whole family to follow.

The dilemma for the receiving authorities, in this case Greece, is that they are under obligation from the UNHCR, Greek Law and children’s rights organizations to provide security and safe places for unaccompanied minors. But the minors, under direction from their families, may not want to stay in Greece, or to go to Greek schools or to learn Greek. They may want to move on as soon as possible.

Legal obligations

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (Greece signed the Convention on 26 January 1990 and ratified it by law (L. 2102/1992) the rights enshrined are not dependent on nationality or ethnic origin or whether the child is legally or illegally within the country.

Of particular relevance is the ‘Reception Conditions Directive’, which sets out minimum standards for the treatment of those in need of international protection (European Commission, 2013). Member states are required to identify those who fall into a vulnerable category so as to respond to their needs (Shreeves, 2016).

Children of immigrants, including those whose parents live in Greece illegally, have the right to attend public schools. Today many immigrant children, irrespective of the status of their parents, are studying at all levels of education in Greek facilities.

In 2016–2017, when 22,000 refugee children were in the country, there were 800 reception classes within the public schools, each including 10 to 20 pupils aged between 6 and 15 years. They were offered a 4-hour programme on the Greek language, maths, computer science, music, art, theatre and gymnastics.

According to the Ministry of Education in 2017–2018, a thousand schools across Greece accept refugee children, while 30 kindergartens operate within refugee accommodation structures. In particular, 2493 children reside in urban apartments with at least one parent, and the majority of the 2360 UACs living in shelters are already attending the school morning programme, while the registration of another 2000 children is expected to be completed soon. Children aged 6–16 who attended last year’s reception classes will join this year’s public school morning programme.

For these purposes, 211 teachers are enrolled for 600 reception classes that operate in the morning, while 36 permanent teachers of the primary and 33 teachers of the secondary education systems have been appointed to the position of Refugee Training Coordinators. These will be the links between refugee populations and schools (Ministry of Education, 2017).

The impact of austerity and recession in Greece

The massive influx of immigrants has come at a time when the Greek economy is under severe stress following the austerity measures imposed by the EU. This has had a profound effect on children and families in Greece.

Following the recession, many in the traditional middle class (self-employed, small entrepreneurs, public sector employees) sank into the ranks of the ‘new poor’. Unemployment soared to 27.6 percent in mid-2013, while youth unemployment reached 60 percent (Petmesidou, 2013). In addition, many people became ‘working poor’. According to Eurostat (2017) data, in 2016 22.4 percent of the population were ‘severely materially deprived’, while more than one in three Greeks were living at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Greece continues to be confronted with the highest, youth long-term unemployment rate in Europe (40.2% in August 2017; cf. 16.5% in the EU-28). Consequently, parents and communities’ ability to provide their children with the necessary prerequisites to develop their full potential have greatly weakened. Approximately half a million children in Greece live in poor families (United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF], 2017).

One in two children in Greece live in circumstances of material deprivation (i.e. their household-family cannot meet at least three of nine basic needs). With 45 percent in this category, Greece has by far the highest rate of children facing material deprivation among the old EU-14 member states (UNICEF, 2017).

Equally high is the percentage of children who live in circumstances of extreme deprivation (i.e. they live in households not able to meet at least four of nine basic needs). Again, this percentage is double than that of the EU-14 countries with the worst performance. These findings reveal the dramatic situation in which many families with children live in Greece. Compared with the rest of the Greek population, the welfare of families with children has particularly been afflicted.

Howard et al. (2001) argue that poverty and social exclusion affect children’s physical, mental and emotional state of health, from low birthweight, accidents in the home and on the roads, and low school attainment. Impacts are worse in the very early stages of life on cognitive development, and later on their educational opportunities and on their self-esteem.

In addition, since the onset of the crisis physical and mental health have been declining, and there has been a rise in suicide rates, drug users (Poulopoulos, 2014), cardiovascular and infectious diseases (AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis; Kentikelenis et al., 2014) and mental health problems (especially anxiety and depression; Laliotis et al., 2016). The impact of austerity affects the ‘permitting factors for adequate parenting’ (Rutter, 2000) either because of the loss/absence of resources, or because of the diminishing ability of the family to fulfil the gaps in parental mental health and home violence or abuse (Kallinikaki, 2015).

Cleaver and Walker (2004) are among the researchers who have highlighted the negative impact of parental problems such as mental illness, domestic violence and drug abuse on children’s development.

In the case of Greece, where poverty and risks have increased and social protection has collapsed, significant complex needs and factors that may lead to child neglect or maltreatment are unmet (Kallinikaki, 2015).

Challenges of responding to UACs

In response to the needs of UACs, many young professionals and social work students have entered the field in reception and identification centres and in shelters. According to Kohli (2006), there are three domains of social work practice with UACs: the ‘domain of cohesion’, in which practical day-to-day support is offered to create routine for UACs; the ‘domain of connection’, focused on ‘witnessing’ past trauma and engaging in a more emotional realm with them; and the ‘domain of coherence’, in which the practitioner engages in the construction of a new start based on a strong and enduring relationship between practitioner and service user (Kohli, 2006).

Given the large number of UACs, and the urgency of their needs for protection, the adoption of a theoretical and value framework, which was appropriate but also accepted by the different stakeholders, was important not only to guide workers but also to prioritize needs.

Although all children have rights under the UN Convention and National Law, UNICEF (2004) introduced Inter-Agency Guiding Principles, which recognize, connect and integrate different aspects, rights, standards and responsibilities. This has appeared to enhance inspiration, ideas and guidance in implementing supportive interventions. UNICEF prioritizes the following six rights in safeguarding UACs:

Right to a name, legal identity and birth registration;

Right to physical and legal protection;

Right not to be separated from their parents;

Right to provisions for their basic subsistence;

Right to care and assistance appropriate to their age and developmental needs;

Right to participate in decisions about their future (UNICEF, 2004).

The following are examples, chosen arbitrarily, to illustrate how some workers on the ground with minimal or very limited resources have responded to the challenges outlined in the above headings.

Some of these examples are pilot participatory projects. They were implemented voluntarily by social work students of Democritus University, who had their practice placements in shelters for UACs (Koufogianni, 2017), or undertaken by young professionals under the supervision of the second author of this article.

Registration: Right to a name, legal identity and birth registration

Every procedure should begin with the registration and identification of a UAC, as well as an assessment of age when age is in question. A system cannot properly protect a child without registration and identification.

The authorities are aware that children often try to evade identification and registration. The main reasons are their fear of the police, and/or of detention, as well as of the prevention of onward travel.

During the identification process, age assessments are often not carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines. The different procedures for the assessment of age across Europe have resulted in discordant decisions on the age of individuals and disruptions in the provision of care and protection for UACs, particularly in cases of transfers under the Dublin Convention (2002).

Many children who arrive in Greece have lost the birth certificate they had when they were separated from their family. The implications of this are serious. A birth certificate means the young person will be called by his or her own name, that their name is spelt correctly and that they are given a degree of legal protection, school enrolment and other safeguards.

In 2017 the registration process was upgraded. New services in big cities, close to the points of entry, have replaced the individual local authority services, which previously had tried to respond with limited and often poorly coordinated resources. In these new facilities, social workers, psychologists and interpreters have been added to the reception teams of police and staff from Frondex, who deal with the registration issues.

The following are examples of how some workers have responded to the challenges of ensuring UACs’ identity.

Photo voice
One of the worst situations was the illegal camp at Idomeni. Refugees congregated here on the borders with the Republic of Macedonia in the hope of crossing the border for onward travel in Europe. The camp has since been closed, as has the border. In this chaotic hot spot, the right of UACs to a name and identity was symbolically protected through a ‘photo voice’ project called ‘Me – my portrait today’, initiated by Stergios Magkriotis, a student of audio visual art in Ionian University and supported by social workers. Children were encouraged to strike a pose they liked and to stand in front of a white wall, which disguised any trace of the tough conditions, the huge mess around and the sad faces of the crowd. On the back of the photographs they wrote their name, the date and whatever else they wanted (e.g. a symbol, a sketch, a word, a sign).Social work students undertook the plasticizing of the photos and showed the children how to keep them safely.
It was noted that children considered the process important, coming prepared, well combed and chose serious poses. These portraits were meant to be a stored memory of children on the move at a time when he/she had no possessions, and the personal histories of those crossing borders and countries were threatened with erasure. This project was characterized as therapeutic for these victims of the humanitarian crisis, as well as useful in encouraging politicians to respond (Zavirsek, 2017: 240).
Memory books
Responding further to the importance of the identity and continuity of life, volunteer new graduate social workers in a reception camp introduced a project on making memory books for the UACs. Life story work has shown to be an important social work tool for traumatized children and an effective tool to help children and young people recover from a disrupted upbringing (Philpot and Rose, 2004).
A local copy centre provided basic materials. Most young people painted trains, boats and different incidents in the camp; some put dried leaves or flowers collected from the area, pieces of paper with announcements, food wrappings (chocolates, candies, ice cream, potato chips, yoghurt, bread, sandwiches, and other things), feathers of birds of the region, brands of new clothes or shoes given to them.
Little I-Am-Me
More recently practitioners and volunteers in the field have used a new tool – the book ‘Little I-Am-Me’ by Mira Lobe, translated into four languages: Greek, German, Arabic and Farsi (Lobe and Weigel, 2017). This little book focuses on the importance of self-worth and self-confidence. It tells the tale of a small multicoloured beast, with long drooping ears, a pink whiskered body and a long coloured tail. Happy and satisfied, it suddenly meets a frog who wants to know what kind of animal it is. The little I-am-me does not know the answer to that question and starts a search for its own identity. In a moment of great sadness and fear (Am I even existing?) it suddenly realizes that it is simply itself with all its different and differing features and qualities. ‘I am just me!’
Migratory Birds
The Network of Children’s Rights funded by UNHCR, together with the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) with the cooperation of Save the Children and the assistance of the Greek newspaper EfSyn, have developed a newspaper for teenage refugees and immigrants called ‘Migratory Birds’ (Zorba, 2017, personal communication). The whole process and the promotion of it is supported by social workers and volunteers in the field. It helps young refugees with identity issues and enhances the communication between Greeks and refugees.

Right to physical and legal protection

In the winter of 2016, with the huge pressure for accommodation following the increasing numbers of UACs arriving at different entry points, the Ministry of Migration Policy made two decisions. In collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity, they decided to use the buildings of large public institutions (ex-orphanages) for child protection as well as shelters for UACs. Also, they decided to establish a separated, properly equipped and decorated area called the safe zone. Their aim was to create 30 positions in each one of the 30 refugee reception centres operated in the country, and a total of 800–900 more places for UACs.

As a result, on 30 October 2017 eight safe zones were in operation with 240 positions and two others; a total of 60 positions were under construction (National Centre for Social Solidarity, 2017).

However, despite the willingness and the efforts taken, as mentioned earlier, a number of children remain on waiting lists for proper accommodation. The Ombudsman, in his research on 17–19 July 2017 for UACs, noted that some young people remained in police stations. Human Rights Watch (2017) in a letter to the Greek Ministry of Migration Policy noted that the numbers of UACs in police custody had risen from 2 in 2016 to 117 in 2017. Their research found that many UACs were held for weeks, and in some cases months, in small, overcrowded and unsanitary police station cells. In some cases, they were held with unrelated adults, violating international and national law requiring the separation of adults from children in detention.

Similar reports have been sent to the Ministries of Migration Policy and Social Solidarity from the Greek Association of Social Workers, social work academics and frontline professionals.

Both shelters and safe zones provide vaccination and medical care for those who arrive with illness, injuries or the impacts of malnutrition, and visual or hearing impairments, dental care needs and other matters are taken care of. Regular presence of the same inter-professional medical team gives a sense of trust and confidentiality to girls and boys. This is especially important for those who have been abused or raped and wish to share these extremely painful experiences.

Workshops and creative activitiesIn both shelters and safe zones practitioners and volunteers run workshops and creative activities appropriate for the children’s age, sex and wishes and also appropriate for the climate conditions. Outdoor play is essential due to the climate of Greece, but it must be well organized, while stories and fairytales are more suitable for the windy and wet days. These activities need to be supported by participation of some young members who come from the children’s nation and speak their language.
OMNES
In some small cities, better conditions for safety have been set up. There is the example of OMNES, a local voluntary association in the city of Kilkis, which started a housing programme in September 2016, which between November 2016 and April 2017 housed 489 beneficiaries, 12 separated children, 13 pregnant young women and 30 single-parent families. Separated children of school age were enrolled in public schools, while five of them were relocated and four reunited with their families.

Recently, the Ministry of Migration Policy and National Centre of Social Solidarity introduced a new law that will appoint guardianships: children commissioners for the UACs (1 for every 20 UACs), starting with those children who were able to live independently. It is hoped that these commissioners will safeguard the children’s best interests and general well-being and ensure the legal rights of all of UACs (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights [FRA], 2015; Metadrasi: Action for Migration and Development, 2018).

Right not to be separated from their parents

Keeping contact with parents and relatives is the first priority. Skype is the most widely used tool for contact. Shelters offer free Wi-Fi, but there are not enough laptops for all, which produces pressure on those who use them to shorten the conversations, which unfortunately results in conflicts.

Those who have a mobile phone, usually the older UACS, are taught how to keep it safe and its battery charged.

Managing contact with family
Social work students in a shelter underline the importance of a firm 2-hour timetable for access to PCs every afternoon for parental contact. This takes into account the time difference between countries, the hours the adults keep in the other country, the hours the adults prefer/are able to be in contact and have access to the Internet.
During and at the end of the Skype contact, social workers, students or other understanding adults give support and help the children to make sense of their experience. Some staff workers attempt to confront parents, but all workers are sensitive to the feelings of the young people and their siblings who may be distressed during the Skype contact. Other children become worried by the messages they are receiving from home motivating/pressing them to keep on the move. Questions as to why they are staying, and when exactly they will continue their journey, are very painful.

Right to provisions for their basic subsistence

The challenge of providing appropriate shelter from the time of the children’s arrival and during their stay in the country is crucial. Due to the many entry points, the conditions of their arrival (e.g. rescue operations), the large numbers of migrants and the variety of their individual characteristics (age, sex, etc.) and their prospective destinations, the welcome process differs and depends on the availability of empty positions for children in the refugee reception centres.

Personalizing the first shelters
In the shelters they are offered single or double rooms, properly equipped, and they are encouraged to decorate them according to their interests. Cultural traditions and preferences of food, care of hygiene and issues like prayer are taken into account. Translators and older members who come from the same country and speak their language are very useful in facilitating the initial communication and explaining the basic rules. Social workers make efforts to introduce and increase protective and resilience factors. They act as persons of reference for every child, and are available to have regular (if possible on a daily basis) meetings and counselling sessions to help them to voice and make sense of their experiences and feelings (Kohli, 2007).

Wade et al. (2005) found that supportive accommodation, access to education and opportunities to develop and move forward assist UACs in managing the challenges of their situation in the receiving country.

In terms of appropriate accommodation for the UACs, the provision of foster care has been limited, and has been provided only by the NGO Metadrasis.

Right to care and assistance appropriate to their age and developmental needs

Meeting the UACs’ developmental needs

The concept that UACs are ‘first and foremost children’ (Stone, 2000) and must be treated as such is very important. Bearing in mind they are children, who are not only vulnerable, or at serious risk, professionals start with an individual assessment concerning their age, sex and conditions of his or her move and a needs assessment in the environment where he or she is living in the transit country. As there is no access to their developmental and medical history, a study of current health, psychological needs, prospects and wishes is urgent. Social workers have to stay alongside the young people, observe them carefully, and systematically note their mood, reactions and preferences and listen to what they have to say. The main tasks are to identify their particular needs according to their age, sex and expressed preferences (e.g. choose to be alone, or to stay next to another UAC of the same nationality) and tο assess the extent that their needs (love, care, acceptance, rewarding, safety, predictability and stability, realistic limits, empathy, expression of feelings) are met.

The use of ‘My World Triangle’
As most of the UACs have experienced parental neglect and/or abuse, an adaptation of ‘My World Triangle’ is used as a guide for the purpose of the individual assessments. The My World Triangle supports practice that considers the child or young person’s needs and risks, as well as the positive features in their lives. Strengths and well-being concerns are given equal consideration and can be structured around the triangle. Information gathered should be proportionate and relevant to the issues in hand. In many cases, it is not considered necessary to explore every area of the triangle in detail but only to look at those that are immediately relevant (Scottish Government, 2017). Once translators have been prepared, the triangle acts as an efficient tool for the social work students and is fun for the children. The needs and strengths assessments are undertaken in the environment where the young people are currently staying, and suggest ideas for possible actions, activities and games with other children who are around, or in the community. Based on the findings of these assessments, young social workers establish what should happen in order to respond appropriately to the UACs’ age and developmental needs.

One of the most critical needs in the early days is the provision of an elementary introduction to the education and routine during the stay in the chaotic camps. Naomi Richman, a British child psychiatrist who made it her life’s work to support refugee children in conflict zones, believed the best therapy was to ‘normalize’ as far as possible the young person’s situation (Richman, 1998). Key to this normalization was the importance of attending a school. Education, she demonstrated, was crucial to current and future mental health. The dilemma for many child refugees is that they miss out on vital stages of their education that can be hard to retrieve when they eventually become settled.

I learn my language, as long as the adults learn some Greek words (for school-age children from Syria)

A noteworthy participatory project was implemented involving Syrian refugee teachers in a hosting camp. Using the snowball method, a team was created of seven English-speaking teachers and students of pedagogy from Syria. They were encouraged and supported to organize three 2-hour mother-tongue ‘classes’ in age groups, using copies of original teaching material acquired from the Association of Syrians in Athens. This project owes special thanks to the social worker Tzanetos Antypas, the chair of the NGO Praxis, who had offered two tents, and to volunteers who offered plastic pillows that inflated and were used for seats. Parents, relatives and friends sat beside the trainers and undertook various additional work to make things easier.
There was a parallel project for the parents or companions of these children. Two social workers supported by two English-speaking Syrians taught them the use of basic phrases in Greek in order to be able to communicate with the staff of the camp or the market and the drugstore.
The project had high returns mainly because it ‘broke the queue routine for breakfast, lunch, dinner, statement, or the toilet’, and was much enjoyed by children, parents and their trainers. It was a multidimensional experience where all the participants learnt something.

Another project was:

‘My body – my guard!’ (το σώμα μου ο φύλακας μου)
Raising awareness among girls of the need for their own protection and safety during the stay in a camp and the journey ahead is especially important. As collaboration with translators was impossible, due to financial restraints, social workers worked with a Syrian youngster speaking good English to run a group project for girls. The coordinators also took part and shared their own experiences, such as ‘I remember myself at the age of … being …’; or ‘today in this country children of … years …’…
Participants were asked to complete phrases, or answer questions and speech about, for example, the following:
‘I–Me–We’ (at home, in the school, in the streets, ….)

I am … –I have … –I want for me
I do not want to be …
I choose–I decide ….
When should I say No?
I do not want to say NO.

They made personal confidential lists that they kept for themselves, and continued to think about issues such as:
1: When I guard something important for me, I …
Can I do more to protect it?
2: I feel safe at (Places, Points) when …
While, when I’m alone I …
3. If I need help from (names, attributes):
4. Here, today I would feel comfortable and safe if:
5. Here if I feel …, … I’m addressing …
I trust … when … because
I believe who …, when …, because
I feel happy when …
Some people I say no when …
Come … I say where, why?
6. How do I keep the most important things for me?

Another interesting project, filling the education gap before proper schooling could be organized, was the Hope School.

Hope School
Hope School is an independent and inclusive school funded by a group of Syrian refugees for child refugees who have recently arrived in Greece, regardless of their nationality. It started under a tent in Piraeus port. Today, it operates in Skaramagas Refugee Camp and caters to more than 600 children. So far, more than 20 volunteer refugee teachers provide classes along with other volunteers from Greece and the rest of the world, contributing to the sustainability of this venture and planting seeds of hope in the children’s hearts.

UNHCR, in recent research on supporting ‘livelihoods’ in refugee camps, notes that, rather than dependency, people look for opportunities to improve their lives: ‘… refugees are not idle people but are willing to rebuild their livelihoods if given a chance’ (UNHCR, 2006). The concept is that refugees come with knowledge, skills and the ability to work, which may be useful to themselves and others. The Hope School, by using the skills of the Syrian refugee teachers, is an excellent example of this.

The refugee crisis has inspired a wide range of other activities to support and integrate refugee children and their families. A number of institutions such as universities and unions, as well as individuals, have introduced various initiatives focusing on pre-school and school-age children and those in these facilities where UACs are in the majority. Access to meaningful education is of vital importance to UACs in terms of resilience and well-being (Kohli and Mather, 2003).

Further training for teachers of refugees
In 2016, the University of Athens created an ‘Observatory-Network of Solidarity for Refugees’, which implements various projects in the Open Hospitality Structure of the Eleonas camp (in Athens). Under this initiative, students of the department of Primary Education implement an educational–social intervention, based on critical pedagogy, aiming to help children to express themselves, to play, to enjoy themselves and to act as children. In addition, the School of Philosophy of Athens University has designed and implemented the project ‘Development of Basic Communication Capacities of Refugees in Greek and English’. Staff consist of graduates of the Interdepartmental Postgraduate Programme ‘Teaching Greek as a Second/Foreign Language’, who undertake the teaching of refugees in the same Open Hospitality Structure of Eleonas. Both programmes continue with new projects and courses.

Right to participate in decisions about their future

Although projects such as ‘Migratory Birds’ (Zorba, 2017, personal communication) and other participatory projects mentioned earlier give voice to some UAC concerns, complying with the right to participate in decisions about their future is more difficult.

The implementation of this crucial right is ambivalent or violated because the existing procedures take so long and may not, in the end, be what the children and parents want.

For many UACs, decisions about their future were made before leaving their birth country. Practitioners are concerned about the ethical correctness of an extensive assessment of their views and desires, because in the end social workers may have to answer ‘your wish to move on is not likely to be fulfilled in the near future’.

Parents have sent the young people on the journey to Europe after having decided that it was the best for them, the one way to a good life. Some UACs have strong connections with the persons who are waiting for them in the ‘promised land’, Germany, Sweden or wherever. Others know only the name and their affinity (‘brother’/‘uncle’) of his or her rescuer.

Because of this, during individual assessment the responses to the question ‘what I’d want to have’ is the same: ‘to go to’, ‘to arrive in’, ‘to leave just now’. They repeat the wish or promise of parents they left behind. Although they enjoy playing with native children in the neighbourhood, some UACs refuse to go to school with them.

Because of the variety and complexity of the situations and prospects, individual processes are necessary, but social workers have to be sensitive and careful, preventing further disappointment.

UACs were aware that social work students’ presence in the shelter was time limited (3 months), with a clear leaving date (the last day of their practice placement). As the students moved on, this provoked questions and expressions of hope among the UACs that they too would move on soon. Similar hopes were raised following each young person whose demand for reunification had succeeded (Koufogianni, 2017).

Concluding remarks

UACs first and foremost are children, and no chilren are the same. Although some funding has come from the EU and NGOs, the arrival of thousands of UACs in 2015–2017 has put a huge strain on the Greek system, which already had key shortcomings and where many native children were living in poverty following the austerity measures. Due to this, and to the complexity of the situation of being UACs, children’s needs were marginalized or only partly met. Most difficult was the condition in camps where the UACs might be at risk of maltreatment or abuse, but where there may not be anyone who could respond to their emotional needs and listen to their concerns. Those who had to wait in police custody while appropriate accommodation was found were a particular concern.

As we have seen, in the camps, efforts are made to establish separated places for children (safe zones), usually containers with some staff and volunteers establishing routines for each day, with meetings for fun, creative activities, games for small groups and play. With few resources, social workers had to be innovative in meeting the needs of the UACs.

Displacement as a loss affects children on behavioural, emotional and cognitive levels, and the social workers worked with children under severe stress. They found that when working with UACs, either in shelters or in reception and identification centres, it was important to be flexible and ready to implement quickly any remedial and environmental improvements and, where possible, to involve the young people as participants. Interventions were at three levels:

responsive actions aimed at preventing, putting a stop to and/or alleviating the immediate effects of a specific pattern or condition of abuse;

remedial action aimed at restoring dignified living conditions through rehabilitation, restitution and reparation;

environment building aimed at creating and/or consolidating an environment (political, institutional, legal, social, cultural and economic) conducive to full respect for the rights of the individual (UNICEF, 2004).

Teams of social work students who had contact with UACs noted that most of them, after initial reticence, shared their concerns of uncertainty about asylum, their worry about the safety of relatives left behind, the difficulties in their living conditions, and the challenges of learning the language and of settling into school. UACs found it hard to verbalize these feelings, but games facilitated the process.

As many UACs saw their situation as temporary and planned to follow their parents’ wish that they move on to a ‘promised land’ in Europe (of which Greece is not one), some avoided school enrolment and could be reluctant to learn the Greek language.

The existing conditions, with the continuing large number of arrivals, pose ongoing risks for the safety and rights’ violation of both accompanied and unaccompanied children.

It is easy, however, to become despondent about the refugee crisis or to be critical about the shortcomings of the care provided, but the generosity and efforts of the Greek people at a time when their own economy is under dire pressure, the efforts of the social workers working with limited or no resources, and the development of training in universities and elsewhere to respond to the refugee needs is humbling. At the original conference in Athens on ‘Families in Transition’ in June 2017, the first author was asked how her country (the UK) had responded to the refugee needs. She was forced to reply that she felt deeply ashamed at how little the UK had done to help. But it is not only the UK that has fallen short, but also many other EU countries beyond the frontline who have closed their borders and have left it to the receiving countries to create a future for very vulnerable children. The numbers of UACs in Greece who have been moved on to permanent placement outside Greece is risible. It is perhaps the fault of all of us in Europe, beyond Greek’s borders, that some UACs in Greece are deprived of the rights to which they are entitled.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Notes

Author biographies

Ann Buchanan is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at Oxford University. In June 2017, she spoke at the University of Athens on ‘Safeguarding Children and Families in Transition’.

Theano Kallinikaki is Professor of Social Work at the Democritus University of Thrace. Her interests include social work history and education, child protection, minority and refugee child welfare, and qualitative research.

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