found that examinations of asylum claims by unaccompanied children are delayed by authorities until children reach adulthood.146 Efthalia Pappa from the Ecumenical Refugee Program told us that even in convincing cases the police would conclude that an asylum seeker came for economic reasons: We accompanied an unaccompanied minor from Eritrea to his firstinstance interview. This boy had the capacity to tell how he had been tortured. Because a lawyer was present, the police officer was obliged to write it down. At the end, though, he wrote ‘manifestly unfounded, came for economic reasons.’ There was a lawyer there. We got the minutes of the interview. Our lawyer was present at the interview. If she had not been present, the boy would not even have been able to tell his story.147 These findings highlight the extent to which the government of Greece falls short of its obligations under international law with regards to unaccompanied children seeking asylum. Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges states parties to ensure that a child who seeks asylum or is considered a refugee shall “receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of applicable rights” set forth in international law.148 The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child specifies that this obligation entails, inter alia, “the responsibility to set up a functioning asylum system” and to “build capacities necessary to realize this treatment in accordance with applicable rights” so that “asylum-seeking children, including those who are unaccompanied or separated, shall enjoy access to asylum procedures and other complementary mechanisms providing international protection, irrespective of their age.”149 The Committee on the Rights of the Child further urges authorities to give priority to asylum applications by unaccompanied children and it recommends that children in 146 Papageorgiu and Dimitropoulou, Unaccompanied Minors Study, p. 88. 147 Human Rights Watch interview with Efthalia Pappa, director Ecumenical Refugee Program, Athens, June 2, 2008. 148 CRC, art. 22 149 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No.6, paras. 64-66. 51 Human Rights Watch December 2008