“The Smile of the Child” honors the World Refugee Day

PRESS RELEASE

Athens, 20 June 2017

“The Smile of the Child” honors the World Refugee Day

On 20 June, World Refugee Day, “The Smile of the Child” honors the strength and courage of thousands of refugees who flee from their country in search of a better and safer future in other countries.

Greece is at the forefront of a global humanitarian crisis unfolding in 2015 as a result of the mass influx of refugees who risked their own lives and crossed the Aegean Sea in an effort to reach Europe and settle to Northern European countries for better future.

In the midst of this crisis we witnessed thousands of people drown in boat disasters losing their life in the Mediterranean Sea, parents holding the dead bodies of their children and children losing their parents and staying alone.

The life of refugees has no value for the organized crime networks that exploited their dreams and promised a better life in exchange of profits. The people who managed to make it safely to shores they were placed to improper places inside tents, in outdoor areas, squatted like simple commodities. Sadly, we got used to the image of desperate faces due to the hardships and hunger, of dead bodies of children on shores, of children behind barbed wired facilities and of pregnant women giving birth to their babies in the mud.

Today, more than 60.000 people are still in Greece either in accommodation areas, hotspots and apartments awaiting a better future. Despite the enormous funding poured into the country for the refugee crisis, the challenges remain with many people still unprotected from smugglers and traffickers, living in appalling hygiene conditions, with no access to healthcare services and treated like “outcasts” of this society.

In honor of the World Refugee Day “The Smile of the Child” continues to meet on a daily basis the ever increasing needs as a result of this crisis maintaining both in numbers and quality its actions and services. Based on its expertise, specialized personnel and the participation of volunteers “The Smile of the Child” supported 17.779 refugee and migrant children in 2016 across 52 different areas in the country.

“The Smile of the Child” struggles on a longstanding basis and exclusively for the interests and rights of children, beyond any party or political purposes, based upon its basic principle that every child in need should be helped regardless of its origin or any other criterion. “The Smile of the Child” has proved that in practice in the course of 22 years of relentless actions for children and remains dedicated to its mission for the protection and care of all children, regardless of ethnicity or religion. “The Smile of the Child” provides the full spectrum of its services for every refugee or migrant child with the goal to ensure their needs in a holistic way based on certified procedures.
On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, the President of the Organization “The Smile of the Child”, Mr. Costas Yannopoulos underscores the self-evident need for an equal treatment of all children from the authorities, especially in the cases of their disappearance, no matter if the disappearance concerns a refugee or migrant child, an unaccompanied child, a Roma child or a child of a Greek family. Sadly, the cases of missing refugee/migrant children are not reported in most of the cases and as a result the search mechanism of the 116000 European Hotline for Missing and Exploited Children– coordinated by “The Smile of the Child nationally – remains inactivated.
As a consequence children remain unnoticed and under the risk of falling victims of smugglers and traffickers. In the cases on which “The Smile of the Child” was informed, the Organization mobilized immediately and in cooperation with the competent authorities all children were located successfully.
It is worthwhile to mention that 2.200 is the estimated number of unaccompanied minors currently in the country, while 1.118 unaccompanied minors are still in the waiting list for shelter (Source: National Center for Social Solidarity). According to UNHCR, an estimated number of 200 unaccompanied minors were entering in the country on a monthly basis throughout 2016, whereas in the course of the same year 526 unaccompanied minors went missing with only 126 identified according to the Hellenic Police. 10.000 unaccompanied minors are still unaccounted for in Europe running the risk of exploitation and abuse.

More recently, the European Federation of Missing and Exploited Children in whose Board of Directors serves “The Smile of the Child” announced during the “Lost In Migration” conference held in Malta a number of recommendations to EU and national leaders to end disappearance, suffering and exploitation of children in migration.

The workshop coordinated by “The Smile of the Child” identified a number of crucial recommendations for the minimum standards in interagency cooperation to better protect children from harm:

● Missing unaccompanied children should be treated first and foremost as missing children by all actors and authorities and they should be entitled to the same protection and rights;
● Quick reporting of cases of missing unaccompanied minors to the Police and the existing network of 116000 European Hotlines is crucial for the search and protection of unaccompanied minors;
● Formal and well-established cooperation with public authorities and other relevant actors and agencies is key in preventing and addressing cases of disappearances;
● There is a need for certified procedures and proper information sharing among all actors (authorities, NGO professionals and other actors) involved in dealing with these cases;
● The provision of accurate information on existing tools and mechanisms of protection among children and the actors involved will help to improve the efficiency in responding timely and successfully in cases of missing unaccompanied minors;
● Cross-border cooperation and exchange of information is a prerequisite to deal with the cases of missing unaccompanied minors;
● Advocacy and lobbying should be enhanced within the Member States on mobilizing existing systems and protocols in place.

“The Smile of the Child” offers all its services to every refugee and migrant child on a longstanding basis, free-of-charge, nationwide, 24/7 and 365 days a year.
Mainly,

• Sheltering to children, in cooperation with competent authorities, with the aim to reunite children with their families, when possible;
• Sheltering to families in specific facilities;
• Direct handling of emergency cases through direct interventions and handling of reports;
• Provision of preventive medical exams and therapies;
• Activation of all services in the cases of missing children either within the country, or at the cross-border level;
• Support provided by Mobile Medical Units (ambulances) upon the arrival of children to the country, emergency transports, etc;
• Provision of any form of support to children with chronic or non-chronic health problems;
• Support in material, emotional and/or social form, with the aim to cover the basic needs of families through 12 Support Centers that meet all the safety and hygiene standards for the maintenance and distribution of food and medicine.
• Support and inter-linkage of families with competent public authorities in Greece and abroad.
• The services of the National Helpline for Children SOS 1056, the European Helpline for Children and Adolescents 116111, and the European Hotline for Missing Children 116000. All three Lines are interconnected with the European Emergency Number 112 and their operation is supported by a Disaster Recovery Area at Athens International Airport in the case of an emergency situation.
• Activation of the Amber Alert Hellas
• Activation of the European Child Alert Automated System (ECAAS)
• Activation of the Search and Rescue Team “Thanasis Makris”
• Specialized information on the services provided by 116000 and 116111 childlines through a dedicated leaflet available in 5 languages (including Farsi and Arabic).