whether the child flees persecution or risks inhuman or degrading treatment upon return is a flagrant disregard of international norms. In the case of Mubilanzila Mayeka and Kaniki Mitunga v. Belgium, which involved the deportation of an unaccompanied girl to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the European Court of Human Rights held that states parties to the European Convention on Human Rights must take requisite measures and precautions against torture, inhuman or degrading treatment when deporting a foreign national. The court stated that Belgian authorities “did not seek to ensure that she [the child] would be properly looked after or have regard to the real situation she was likely to encounter on her return to her country of origin.”362 In Nsona v. The Netherlands, which also involved the forced removal of an unaccompanied child, the court explained states parties’ responsibility under Article 3 of the ECHR: The responsibility under Article 3 in cases of this kind lies in the act of exposing an individual to the risk of ill-treatment, the existence of the risk must be assessed primarily with reference to those facts which were known or ought to have been known to the Contracting States at the time of the expulsion.363 (emphasis added) Returns and Transfers to Greece Given the systemic deficiencies in protecting unaccompanied children in Greece, EU states should suspend the transfer of unaccompanied children to Greece under the Dublin II regulation, and they should stop returning children summarily at ports of entry. Instead, EU member states should refer unaccompanied children to their national child protection services, and if a child seeks asylum, take responsibility to assess the claim in a child-friendly, fair and expeditious manner. International law stipulates that the child’s best interest is a primary consideration in any decision affecting the child and that children deprived of their family 362 Mubilanzila Mayeka and Kaniki Mitunga v. Belgium, (Application no. 13178/03), October 12, 2006, available at www.echr.coe.int, para. 68. 363 Nsona v. The Netherlands, (23366/94), Judgment of 26 June and 26 October 1996; 63/1995/569/655, available at www.echr.coe.int, para. 92(c). Left to Survive 102