center of Athens where spots to sleep on the floor are rented out for three to five euro a night. Forced to fend for themselves, children struggle daily for survival, are out of school and have to search for income as day laborers. As a result, they are at serious risk of ending up illegally employed in exploitative work, performing heavy and hazardous tasks at risk to their health. The protection failures documented in this report represent the continuation in 2008 of systemic failures which have led to criticism and concern expressed by both UN and Greek bodies over many previous years. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern about the treatment of unaccompanied migrant and asylum-seeking children as long ago as 2002. In 2004, the UN Human Rights Committee noted an “absence of child welfare protection.” In 2005, the Greek Ombudsman called on the government to identify, register, and provide adequate care to all unaccompanied children in the country—a call basically repeated by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights in 2007. Key Recommendations To the Government of Greece Greece needs to revise its entire system and services to protect unaccompanied migrant and asylum seeking children: • • The Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity should increase the number of care places for unaccompanied children to the level required to ensure placements for all unaccompanied children in the country. In cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health should set up a registration and tracking system in Greece to account for every child. It should also design programs to reach out to unaccompanied migrant children who live outside state-sponsored care and facilitate their access to state protection. The Ministry of Interior should grant unaccompanied children a regular status for as long as they are on Greek territory to ensure their enjoyment of rights and protection on an equal basis with Greek children, and to protect them from repeated arrest and detention. In cooperation with the Ministry of Health, 5 Human Rights Watch December 2008