On 3 October 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) convicted Greece for violation of Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) , 5&1 (right to liberty and security) and 5&4 (right to apply to a court) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), for the violations suffered in 2019 by two unaccompanied minor sisters from Afghanistan, who were found, despite their apparent vulnerability as minor girls, homeless and subsequently detained in an adult women's cell under "protective custody" at the Pre-removal Detention Centre of Taurus.1185 The unaccompanied minors were represented before the ECtHR by the Legal Unit of the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR). In their application, the minors complained, inter alia, of inhuman and degrading living conditions, their confinement and their placement in 'protective custody' in a detention centre resulting in their de facto detention, and their inability to challenge this decision. The Court, inter alia, stressed that the Greek authorities had failed to take prompt action to accommodate them emphasising that the large number of pending applications for accommodation for unaccompanied minors does not relieve the authorities of their positive obligations to protect them. Furthermore, specifically with regard to the placement of minors in "protective custody", the Court accepted the minors' arguments that this constituted an unlawful deprivation of their liberty and that there was no legal remedy available to the applicants to challenge the decision being an oral order of Prosecutorial Authorities. The Court further found a violation of Article 3 of the ECHR regarding the conditions to which the minors were exposed during their confinement at the Tavros Pre-removal detention centre. Types of accommodation for unaccompanied children As per data provided by the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons & Institutional Protection operating under the MoMA,1186 out of the 1,930 total available places for unaccompanied children in Greece by the end of 2024, 1,537 were in 60 shelters, 238 were in 60 Supported Independent Living apartments (SILs) for UAM over the age of 16, and 155 places were in 4 emergency accommodation facilities operating under the National Emergency Response Mechanism (NERM). As per the same data, during the same time (31.12.2024), out of the total 2,408 UAM estimated to be in Greece on 1 January 2025, the 1,778 are already residing in special accommodation spaces. Particularly, 1,434 resided in shelters, 215 in SILs, 129 in emergency accommodation under the NERM, and 630 in (mainland) RICs and (island) CCACs, highlighting an ongoing divergence between the available, dedicated places for UAM and those actually in use. According to the data provided by the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons & Institutional Protection regarding the period 1.1.2024-31.12.2024, the total number of placement’s requests of UAMs that NERM received was 2606. From them 1965 minors were finally placed in special accommodation places but at the same time 641 of them were not completed. Shelters for unaccompanied children: long-term accommodation facilities for unaccompanied children (shelters) are managed primarily by civil society entities and charities. Supported Independent Living (SIL): “Supported Independent Living for unaccompanied minors” is an alternative housing arrangement for unaccompanied children aged 16 to 18 launched in 2018. The programme includes housing and a series of services (education, health etc.) and aims to enable the smooth coming of age and integration to Greek society.1187 Emergency Accommodation Facilities: Emergency accommodation facilities are temporary accommodation places, for unaccompanied children who are traced living homeless or in precarious living conditions, operating under the National Emergency Response Mechanism (NERM) and run by IOM. The Emergency Accommodation Facilities provide an immediate assessment of the best interest of UAMs and a comprehensive protection, including the provision of psychosocial, legal and medical support and the referral to long-term accommodation shelters 1188. 1185 ECtHR case of T.S. and M.S. v. Greece, judgement of 3 October 2024, application no 15008/19. 1186 1187 1188 Data provided by the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons & Institutional Protection on 7 January 2025. Metadrasi, Supported Independent Living for unaccompanied minors, available at: https://bit.ly/2tPEljv. MoMA / Special Secretariat for the Protection of UAMs, National Emergency Response Mechanism. A safety net for unaccompanied children identified in precarious living conditions, November 2022, available at: https://tinyurl.com/2msh79hc. 214