an unaccompanied child shall only take place after a thorough assessment including whether such a move is in the child’s best interests.355 States must refrain from returning a child if the principle of non-refoulement applies, in other words, if the return poses a real risk that the person will be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or if the return poses a threat to the person’s life or freedom due to persecution, including child-specific forms thereof.356 With regards to children specifically, the Committee on the Rights of the Child held that the return or deportation of a child is not an option if there is a “reasonable risk” that this would lead to the violation of a child’s fundamental rights.357 Such an assessment of risks includes, inter alia, the safety and security situation awaiting the child, socioeconomic conditions, the availability of adequate care as well as the duration of absence from the home country.358 Children enjoy procedural safeguards during repatriation proceedings. If their return poses a risk of refoulement, as explained above, they must be given access to an effective remedy and the right to legally challenge a repatriation decision.359 The Committee on the Rights of the Child asks member states to ensure children’s representation by a guardian and a lawyer during such proceedings.360 The UNHCR calls on states to carry out a best interest determination prior to deciding on any durable solution, and to document such an assessment.361 Greece’s routine practice of issuing deportation orders without ensuring representation or legal assistance for the child, and without providing children with an opportunity to appeal a deportation decision bars them from the right to an effective remedy. Furthermore, the practice of ordering and implementing children’s deportation without any prior assessment of 355 CRC, art. 3; UNHCR Guidelines, section 9. 356 ICCPR, art. 7; CAT, art. 3; ECHR, art.3: CRC, art. 37(1); Geneva Convention, art. 33. 357 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No.6, para. 84. 358 Ibid. 359 ECHR, art. 13 and art. 3 360 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No.6, para. 36. 361 UNHCR Guidelines, section 9. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, “UNHCR Guidelines on Formal Determination of the Best Interests of the Child,” May 2006, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/447d5bf24.html (accessed 3 September 2008). 101 Human Rights Watch December 2008