Many children did not know their exact date of birth, and all were told that they could
be interviewed regardless of their age. In two cases, we concluded after the interview
that the persons interviewed were most likely 18 or older; one young-looking girl did
not want to tell us her age. We did not count these individuals as children.
We conducted a majority of interviews with the help of interpreters. We interviewed
migrants and asylum seekers in four detention centers and in the following locations:
Athens, Volos, Patras, Samos Island, Mitilini, Hagius Andreas.4 In Athens, we found
children with the help of members of migrant communities as well as through human
rights defenders. In Volos, we interviewed unaccompanied children at a care center
for boys. In Patras, we interviewed unaccompanied children staying at an informal
settlement. We also interviewed children shortly after their release from detention in
Mitilini, while traveling on a ferry to Athens.
Interviews conducted in Athens, on the ferry, and in the care center were fully private
and confidential. Interviews in most cases lasted around 45 minutes, and in some
cases up to one and half hours. Interviews in detention centers were generally much
shorter. While those interviews were carried out away from staff, other detainees
might have been able to hear the conversation. Also, with few exceptions, interviews
in Patras were not conducted fully in private; often, conversations were listened to by
other migrants who lived in the informal settlement.
In Greece we met with police officials, staff working with the Prefectures,
representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior, the Greek
Ombudsman, the National Commission for Human Rights, the Greek office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, non-governmental organizations,
and human rights lawyers and activists.
All names of children interviewed have been replaced by pseudonyms to protect
their identity. In some instances, we also withhold the child’s country of origin, or
the exact date and location of the interview in order to avoid the possibility of
4
We visited four detention facilities in Greece: Kyprinou facility in Fylakio, Evros region; Petrou Ralli detention facility in
Athens; the detention facility for migrants and asylum-seekers on Samos Island; and Amygdaleza detention center for
unaccompanied boys outside Athens.
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