Greek legislation provides for the appointment of a provisional legal guardian for unaccompanied children living in Greece irrespective of their status.60 The responsibility lies with juvenile and court prosecutors who are asked to act as temporary legal guardians both for children seeking asylum and irregular migrant children. As HRW points out, “Prosecutors [already under-resourced] fail to safeguard the child’s interests or keep track of a child as he or she moves through different parts of the immigration system.”61 According to the Convention on the Rights of Child, “The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be … used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity … and in a manner, which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults.”62 Greek law does not exempt children who enter Greece without valid papers from being put in administrative detention. Unaccompanied minors are therefore often held for several weeks in detention centers where, as previously described, conditions are often appalling. MSF repeatedly witnessed unaccompanied minors being detained in the same cells with adults in Filakio and Venna detention centers, usually because they were not recorded as minors. On one occasion male minors complained to MSF staff about being sexually harassed by male adults, who were in the same cell. In that case police promptly transferred the minors to a different detention facility. In December 2009, four unaccompanied minors used sharp objects to injure their upper torso and arms. This was to protest against their detention, which had exceeded three months. Unaccompanied minors have also gone on hunger strikes protesting against the conditions and duration of their detention. Extended detention of unaccompanied minors is partly due to the lack of adequate shelter. Prosecutors need to wait until a vacancy is available in a shelter before the minor is released from the detention center. The Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity is responsible for the accommodation of unaccompanied children who have applied for asylum or are victims of trafficking. Only 340 beds are available in seven shelters for unaccompanied minors throughout Greece.63 It should be noted that unaccompanied minors who are not asylum seekers are also accommodated in those shelters. Shelters are often located in remote areas with limited possibilities for the integration of minors. Most often the minors leave the shelter after a few days or weeks determined to continue their journey. Many have family in other European countries and some have contacts in Greece. Few might return to the shelter after their efforts to leave Greece or find a job have failed. 25 In Mitilini I stayed for a few days. Then we came to Athens. I am travelling with an older friend. I call him my brother. In Athens we found a place in a flat. The flat was very small with only two rooms. We were 13 people staying there and we had to pay 750 euros for that flat. In Athens it was very difficult. You cannot get a job. I tried already to leave Greece a couple of times. I know that the paper they gave us says that we can only stay in Greece for 30 days. The only thing I want is to work to be able to provide for my younger brother and sisters. They are all my life. If they would just give us a place to stay then we would manage. We could learn the language. Now we cannot stay here and they also do not allow us to go to another country in Europe. We are treated worse than animals. And we are humans too. Afghan adolescent, 16 year old MSF teams tried to identify minors in detention centers and urged authorities to address their specific needs. MSF psychologists and social workers offered support to individual children and informed them about the possibility of being accommodated in shelters. MSF was in contact with the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity asking authorities to speed up the process of minors’ placement in shelters. However, MSF’s potential for effective referrals and follow up of unaccompanied children was significantly limited by the serious shortcomings in the protection system for unaccompanied minors.