unaccompanied children in the detention center of Lesvos Island, until care arrangements were found. Children in both instances staged a hunger strike to protest overcrowding and poor conditions; children detained on Lesvos Island threatened to kill themselves.228 The deputy Ministry of Health was dispatched to Leros Island after local human rights activists attracted the media and he ordered the transfer of all children to Athens initially, where they underwent an age assessment and had asylum applications processed (see chapter II on age assessments). Those determined to be children were transferred to care centers.229 With regards to the approximately 100 unaccompanied children who were detained on Lesvos Island, the Ministry of Health opened a newly-renovated sanatorium, which continues to operate today.230 In early 2008, the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Hellenic Red Cross, referred 101 unaccompanied children who were staying at the settlement in Patras to hotel rooms in advance of a 10-day period of severe cold. Among those, 60 decided to file asylum applications and were referred to care centers around the country.231 Accommodation outside Care Placements Children outside state-funded care work to pay for their accommodation and often live in conditions that are overcrowded, unhygienic, and a risk for their health. Many informal “hotels” exist in the center of Athens where immigrants and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, find accommodation. These “hotels” are 228 Malcolm Brabant, “Victory for hunger strikers in Greece,” BBC News, May 25, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7419667.stm (accessed September 12, 2008); Human Rights Watch interview with Alexandros Anastasiou, coordinator, social services department, Athens, June 6, 2008. 229 This action, however, remained an isolated initiative and other migrants, including families who have subsequently arrived on the neighboring island of Patmos did not benefit from any referral to care. See Malcolm Brabant, “Greece accused of refugee neglect,” BBC News, July 24, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7523775.stm (accessed September 12, 2008). 230 The Greek Ombudsman praised this initiative and commended the personnel of the center as well as the climate within the institution. However, he noted the serious deficiencies that children accommodated in the center lacked regular status, that the status of the center was not clear , and that staff working in the centers had not signed any contracts. Greek Ombudsman, “Positive initiative in accommodating unaccompanied children in Lesvos – further measures required,” Press Release, Athens, August 11, 2008, http://www.synigoros.gr/pdf_01/synigoros.pdf (accessed August 26, 2008). 231 Email correspondence from Dora Papadopoulou, head of Social Welfare Division, Hellenic Red Cross, to Human Rights Watch, April 23, 2008. Left to Survive 70