Social Work & Society ▪▪▪ A. Fili, V. Xythali: The Continuum of Neglect: Unaccompanied Minors in Greece average stay was only 60 days. Upon their departure from the center, minors are erased from the system, so in case they want to return, they have to enter the waiting list anew. As minors rarely reached adulthood inside the centers, any preparation for those who did was made on an ad-hoc basis. There is currently only one accommodation center for young adults, aged 1822, specifically addressing the needs of those UAM who have turned 18 while in another 26 accommodation facility, operated by NGO SMA . While Greece has been transformed from a fast lane to a grim waiting room for most UAM, feelings of entrapment in Greece are heightened, the results of which have yet to be explored. Foster care Although foster care is provided by law (2447/96 – Official Gazette 278 Α’, Presidential Decree 86/09 -Official Gazette 114 Α’), it has never been widely used for neither Greek nationals nor foreigners. More specifically, there are approximately 540 foster families in Greece caring for Greek nationals, while close to 3,000 children live in residential care (Roots Research Center, 2015). For UAM the number of foster care arrangements is significantly lower. Until 2015, there was only one known case of placement of a UAM in temporary foster care, notwithstanding unofficial cases where unaccompanied children stayed with family friends and relatives without entering the official national system. In 2015, NGO METAdrasi initiated a pilot project for the temporary accommodation of UAM in foster families. The project runs in parallel with the national foster care system, utilizing a new registry of potential foster families interested in housing UAM-third country nationals. Placements are authorized by the Public Prosecutor for Minors, who uses her authority as temporary guardian of the minors to delegate their day-to-day care to a family who was considered by the competent authorities capable of looking after them. At the same time, EKKA initiated procedures of unifying all existing foster care registries and the issue of foster care for UAM was the subject of official ministerial working groups. Yet, to date, the number of UAM in foster care countrywide is very small. 5 Concluding thoughts The gaps documented in this paper represent a continuum of systemic failures to protect UAM in Greece, which have led to criticism from a number of human rights organizations. While Greek legislation recognizes the obligations of different authorities to care for and protect unaccompanied boys and girls, the situation on the ground is woeful. Arbitrary and hasty identification procedures at the border render a large number of UAM invisible to the authorities, increasing their vulnerability and risk of violation of their rights. Despite other provisions, the Police are still heavily involved in both the identification and age assessment process. Children are routinely detained. In so doing, Greece violates a number of its international legal obligations, in particular, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Available accommodation places are overcrowded and lack specialized staff, providing children with very few opportunities to engage meaningfully with Greek society. Access to asylum is restricted as is their access to education and the healthcare system. Legislative provisions, such as guardianship and foster care, which could ameliorate the situation are only offered by NGO and are not supported by the state. 26 https://www.sma-athens.org/youth-centre-for-refugees.html Social Work & Society, Volume 15, Issue 2, 2017 ISSN 1613-8953 ▪▪▪ http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-sws-1264 11