“The Smile of the Child” ensured, once again, that a missing refugee child was treated first and foremost as a child, and in an equal way without any distinction

PRESS RELEASE

Athens, 3 May 2019

“The Smile of the Child” ensured, once again, that a missing refugee child was treated first and foremost as a child, and in an equal way without any distinction

A 2-year old refugee boy was found safe only hours after he disappeared in Athens thanks to the immediate and broad mobilization coordinated by “The Smile of the Child”

It was late at night on April 30th, when 2-year-old Shaaban was playing with his siblings in the entrance of the apartment building, located in the city center of Athens, where Shaaban and his family have been living after fleeing Syria and arriving in Greece. A very short absence of the father was enough for the little boy to find himself barefoot on the street, only a few meters away for his home, and instantly go missing from his loved ones.
 
Lost and exposed to great risks, Shaaban wandered around the streets of downtown Athens several hours until a woman noticed the lone boy. This woman, a migrant herself who lives with her family in Greece, took him from the street and provided shelter, food and care, without realizing that the boy had gone missing in the nearby area only a few hours earlier.

In the meantime, his father and mother, who is 8 months pregnant, did not report his missing immediately due to the language barrier and the lack of proper information available. Our experience shows that this is widely common among refugee and migrant populations, and it results in losing precious time. However, as soon as “The Smile of the Child” was informed it made sure to take all the necessary actions without any further delay that could prove detrimental to the search and rescue of the missing boy.  

In close cooperation with the Greek Police Authorities, “The Smile of the Child” persistently sought  the approval of the Chief of the Hellenic Police and the Prosecutor for Minors in order to activate the Amber Alert mechanism and not lose any more time for the broad dissemination of information of the missing boy’s identity. At the same time, in constant communication with the local police department and the public health services, social workers, an interpreter and the Mobile Medical Unit for Newborns and Children of the Organization took action immediately in the area of disappearance, whereas the Search and Rescue Team of “The Smile of the Child”, staffed by its trained volunteers and internationally certified dogs, initiated an intense search and rescue operation in the entire area.

Throughout the entire and ongoing search operation, the poster of the missing boy and relevant information were widely distributed through the mass media (TV channels and radio spots) and social media channels (Facebook posts), SMS, announcements on public transport monitors and other channels. On the next day, the broad dissemination reached the woman who had found the boy the night before. This woman noticed the Amber Alert announcement on the TV and she immediately called the European Hotline for Missing Children 116000 in order to report what had actually happened.

The comforting news of locating little Shaaban had finally reached the staff of the 116000 hotline that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by “The Smile of the Child” in Greece. Soon after the Police and the team of the Organization arrived at the place where little Shaaban had spent the night. Following the guidelines of the Prosecutor for Minors, the boy was then transferred with the Mobile Medical Unit for Newborns and Children back to his home, where a pediatrician of the Organization examined the child, who was found healthy, while a gynecologist examined the 8-month pregnant mother of little Shaaban. At the same time, the social workers of “The Smile of the Child” provided psychological support to the entire family following the shocking incident of Shaaban’s disappearance and anything else necessary.

The adventure of 2-year-old Shaaban has come to an end, along with the agony of his parents and his entire family thanks to the immediate and broad mobilization of “The Smile of the Child” and the competent national authorities.

“The Smile of the Child” cooperates on a longstanding basis with the institutional actors with the goal of ensuring equal treatment for all children regardless of ethnicity, religion or any other criterion. Sadly, migrant and refugee children face risks that no child should experience. These children are extremely vulnerable to ending up in the hands of traffickers or other criminal networks, and become victims of labor, sexual exploitation or smugglers. In addition, the reality in many EU Member States also shows that cases of missing migrant/refugee children are not reported, and as a result the search mechanisms remain inactivate.  

Committed to its mission to support all children regardless of any criterion, “The Smile of the Child” believes that all migrant/refugee children are first and foremost children and should be treated equally without any distinction. In this regard and in cooperation with all the relevant actors and the authorities “The Smile of the Child” has made and continues to make an enormous effort to ensure that.

In 2018 alone the European Hotline for Missing Children 116000 received 12.487 calls in Greece, whereas the Organization received requests for the support in search and rescue operations for 191 missing children. 148 children were found.

For more information, please contact our Press Team at press@hamogelo.gr or +30 210 3306 140.

About “The Smile of the Child”

“The Smile of the Child” is an internationally recognized non-profit, Non-Governmental Organization in Greece in the critical field of child protection, support of children and families with children in need, as well as free public health service for children, both in prevention and treatment. “The Smile of the Child” operates the European Hotline for Missing Children 116000 and is member of Missing Children Europe (MCE) and its Board of Directors. In addition, “The Smile of the Child” is a member of the network and the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) and humanitarian partner of the of the European Commission (DG ECHO). In the framework of its international partnerships, the Organization has the know-how to handle with professionalism and expertise the cases of missing children. Find out more about the international partnerships of the Organization here.