Social Work & Society ▪▪▪ A. Fili, V. Xythali: The Continuum of Neglect: Unaccompanied Minors in Greece Disparate registering practices are further complicated by the nature of the age assessment procedure, which is often used to challenge a person’s claim to be underage, despite provisions for the exact opposite (Law. 4375/2016, Art. 14, par. 9). Article 6 of Ministerial Decision 92490/29.10.2013 sets out the basic framework for conducting age assessments in the context of first reception procedures. In contrast with other countries, such as Norway, the Netherlands and Germany, where x-rays are the only medical exams provided by law (ECRE 2015), the decision requires an initial physical assessment by a pediatrician, followed by an assessment by a psychologist and a social worker. If age cannot be determined, the law foresees dental x-rays and an x-ray of the left wrist. This procedure was until recently 14 compulsory only for RIC and therefore not binding for other national authorities or services . Therefore, due to its lax nature as well as the limited human resources and extreme costs, police and coast guards rarely comply with the procedure for age assessment. Against this background, only a fraction of unaccompanied children is correctly identified and registered as such. While more than 850,000 asylum seekers and migrants made the perilous journey from Turkey to Greece and notwithstanding the fact that more than 95,000 UAM applied for asylum in other EU countries, only few thousand minors appear in Greek official statistics. Their official ‘invisibility’ increases their vulnerability and the risk that violations of their rights will go unnoticed. 3.2 Detention – Returns Law 4375/2016 further regulates the case of detention of minors. Similar to previous laws, it does not prohibit the detention of minors but rather states that detention should only be employed as a measure of last resort and applied only in very exceptional cases, echoing the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In case minors cannot be transferred to appropriate accommodation, the law foresees the possibility of detaining them for up to 25 days pending referral to a shelter, a period that can be further prolonged for up to 20 days more. Indeed, due to the shortage of open accommodation facilities, their ‘protective 15 custody’ often exceeds the maximum time-limit . In November 2016, 344 UAM were held in detention centers under this condition (Human Rights Watch 2016). For example, the vast majority of those detained in the RIC in Moria, as well as in centers in Samos and Chios, frontline islands, have been there for significant periods up to several 16 months and in unacceptable conditions . Furthermore, approximately 30 minors are reportedly held in the detention center of Amygdaleza, the Attica Aliens Police Directorate and police stations all around Greece, allegedly awaiting placement in shelters. Yet, Amygdaleza special holding facility for UAM, “continues to operate like a police detention facility and is totally unsuitable to meet the needs of unaccompanied minor irregular 17 migrants”, as CPT reports . The number of minors, who remain in detention following a wrong age assessment or registration is unknown but the authors are aware of at least three cases. 14 It has recently become applicable to asylums seekers through the Joint Ministerial Decision GG.335/16.02.2016 15 For years, Greece has ignored calls to increase its shelter capacity and expand alternatives to detention with a view to ending the routine detention of children (https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/09/08/why-are-you-keepingme-here/unaccompanied-children-detained-greece). 16 Ombudsman, Intervention of the Greek Ombudsman regarding UAM refugees and migrants, 30 March 2016, available in Greek at: http://bit.ly/2jwBDwm. 17 CPT, 2015 Greece report, 1 March 2016, para 106. Social Work & Society, Volume 15, Issue 2, 2017 ISSN 1613-8953 ▪▪▪ http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-sws-1264 5