One person told me he could take children to Europe—that was in Monastiraki. He was an Afghan. He told me there is a lady from another European country and she wants to bring children to another country. That lady would come and bring other children abroad if they didn’t have their fingerprints taken. They asked me if I wanted to go. He told me it would not cost anything.… They only want children who are alone. He told me that lady was from a refugee organization, maybe UNICEF.308 The Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges states parties to take all appropriate measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or any form.309 The Convention’s Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography recognizes that particularly vulnerable groups, including girl children, are at greater risk of sexual exploitation and it calls on states parties to pay particular attention to the protection of such children.310 Both Amnesty International and the US Department of State have criticized authorities’ failure to correctly identify trafficking victims.311 Furthermore, Greek legislation only recognizes and protects trafficking victims from expulsion if the victim has “shown a clear intention to cooperate.”312 Victims are given a 30-day reflection period to decide whether they will cooperate in the investigation of traffickers. Only if they agree to cooperate are they granted victim status and entitled to temporary residence. There are no provisions that would balance this requirement 308 Human Rights Watch interview with Wali P., Athens, May 27, 2008. 309 CRC, art. 35. 310 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, adopted May 25, 2000, G.A. Res. 54/263, Annex II, 54 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 6, U.N. Doc. A/54/49, Vol. III (2000), entered into force January 18, 2002, ratified by Greece on February 22, 2008, preamble, art. 9(1). 311 See also Amnesty International, “Greece: Uphold the rights of women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation,” June 12, 2007, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR25/002/2007 (accessed August 24, 2008), pp. 8-10 and US State Department, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, “Trafficking in Persons Report 2008: Greece,” June 4, 2008, http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2008/ (accessed September 12, 2008). 312 Law 3386/2005, arts. 47(1), 48(1), 50(1). 91 Human Rights Watch December 2008