IV. Lack of Care, Protection, and Services
“They just arrested me, brought me here, that’s it.”
-Adi S., a 17-year-old Pakistani boy, Amygdaleza pre-removal detention center,
Athens, July 2, 2016
There are serious gaps in the care, protection and services that the Greek authorities offer
to unaccompanied children in detention. Children are often unable to receive critical care,
counseling, information, and legal aid, and have little to no access to educational or
recreational activities.
None of the children interviewed by Human Rights Watch had had a proper interview in
police custody. The police captain at the Paranesti detention center explained, “There’s no
screening here. We don’t have the knowledge….We are police officers, not psychologists or
educators. We need special staff to take care of the minors.”52 He said he was not aware of
any victims of trafficking or gender-based violence being detained at the center, which had
held over 300 children in the past three years. All the other police officers we interviewed
also said they were unaware of any victims of trafficking or gender-based violence among
the unaccompanied children whose detention they had overseen.
The lack of interpreters exacerbates the problem. All of the children interviewed by Human
Rights Watch in police custody said they had not been given an opportunity to speak to the
police with the help of an interpreter. Translation, if available at all, was provided on an ad
hoc basis by other unaccompanied children or, as was the case at Paranesti, adult
migrants. Police at the Mygdonia station said that interpreters are available through
telephone. However, none of the children interviewed said they had been in contact with a
telephonic interpreter.
There was no access to psychological care at the police stations visited or at the
Paranesti detention center. At Amygdaleza, a Greek NGO, Arsis, working in partnership
with Save the Children, makes regular visits to provide psychosocial support. Human
Rights Watch interviewed children who appeared to be experiencing psychological
52 Human Rights Watch interview with Athanasios Charelas, police captain, June 29, 2016.
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER
2016