Social Work & Society ▪▪▪ A. Fili, V. Xythali: The Continuum of Neglect: Unaccompanied Minors in Greece These omissions were until recently entirely overlooked because most minors perceived Greece as merely a transit country. Employing this as a flagship excuse, state authorities and NGO alike rarely aimed to assess their long-term needs. The issue emerged anew at the beginning of 2016, when after the closure of the Balkan route, a significant number of UAM was forced to remain in Greece for an indeterminate period of time. In contrast, however, to the media response to the death of Aylan Kurdi and its concomitant message about the human costs of the crisis, UAM in Greece have to constantly prove they are worthy of support and are not abusers of an already overwhelmed system. Increasingly, due to the refugee crisis, Greece has come to be viewed and spoken about as a space of humanitarian intervention, where, in view of unprecedented funding opportunities, governmental and nongovernmental, security, humanitarian and human rights actors cooperate to respond to ‘humanitarian crises’. Children on the move are framed as subjects to be governed: to be saved from distress, processed in centers, provided with aid, screened for potential risks; to be pitied and/or feared (Perkowski 2016). Within an overriding ethos of cynicism and with money flowing from the EU, a number of different organizations quickly stepped in to ‘protect’ unaccompanied children making this their tangible target. In such a context, minors became humanitarian ‘missions’, inextricably linked to the reproduction of the organization itself, rendering their agency subsumed within the policy of the organization (Papataxiarchis 2016). In stark opposition to this framing, underage migrants strive to make their agency highly visible by defying authorities during the identification process and by making informed decisions about their future. What lies ahead for them in Greece, especially in view of forthcoming EU policies, remains to be seen and documented. Greece has now been transformed to a long-term country, a reality that conflicts with the aspirations of most stranded minors. As the number of UAM might increase in the near future, reflecting developments in the Middle East, their situation in the country is unlikely to improve. In fact, systemic failings and shifting entry policies have reportedly led to an increased prevalence of negative coping mechanisms, such as ‘survival’ or ‘transactional sex’, among UAM. As scholars and activists, we cannot solve the kinds of problems that have led to the creation of shortcomings in the protection of UAM in the first place, but can at least expose them to a public gaze. UAM have the right to live safely somewhere. If not here, then where? References CPT (2014). Report to the Greek Government on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 4 to 16 April 2013. Council of Europe: Committee for the Prevention of Torture Dimitropoulou, G. & Papageorgiou, I. (2008). Unaccompanied Minors Asylum Seekers in Greece. Greece: UNHCR. Derluyn, I. & Broekaert, E. (2008). Unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents: The glaring contrast between a legal and a psychological perspective. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 31, 319-330. ECRE (2015). Detriment of the Doubt: Age Assessment of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children. AIDA Legal Briefing No. 5 December 2015. EUROPEAN COUNCIL. EU-Turkey Statement. Brussels, 18 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/18/eu-turkey-statement/# Social Work & Society, Volume 15, Issue 2, 2017 ISSN 1613-8953 ▪▪▪ http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-sws-1264 March 2016. 12