Introduction
The number of unauthorized individuals passing through Greece has dramatically increased due to the displacement of millions of people globally. The UNHCR estimated that over 86,000 refugees had arrived in Greece in 2016 (Chtouris & Miller, 2017). It is believed that the border crossings are done at night and under rough weather to minimize detection by the Greek coastguard. UNHCR stated that more than one million people entered Greece by sea without travel documents, since 2015 (Pamela, 2016). Greece is dealing with an equivalent of 32 million refugees, and due to the economic recession since 2009, it has been difficult for the government to provide for the refugees. Most refugees coming into Greek rely on human smugglers, putting them at risk of bribery, assault, or death. Their journey is characterized by a lot of struggles, which creates great mental health implications (Dimitris & Loannis, 2016). There are also cultural conflicts with Greek families as they struggle for the limited available resources. Tourism has been affected as a result of the failure of international institutions top adequately support the refugees creating an overwhelming situation for the Greek people who are eager to return to normalcy.
Humanitarian Response by INGO’s, International Organizations and Others
International NGOs were slow to respond to the need for humanitarian assistance in Greece as they believed the country could act independently. Most international NGOs had no operational agreements with European governments, no funding lines, no presence in refugee-affected areas, and no ways to mobilize resources for responding in Europe (Dimitris & Loannis, 2016). Many feared getting involved as they thought it a bad idea to be seen helping independent government funding. Led by European NGOs and funded by European states and the European Union, the international humanitarian system faltered to be mobilized on European territory. Humanitarian agencies found it hard to find funding from traditional donors in Europe. Major Greek NGOs fund it hard to respond to the humanitarian crisis due to their commitment to ongoing aid programs in mainland Greece (Pamela, 2016). Local and national red cross societies weakly performed in some communities but did nothing in others at all. Volunteers responded as everyday humanitarians by collecting and sorting clothes or food for distribution, building shelters, cooking, rescuing people from the sea, providing first aid, setting up laundries, creating libraries and language courses, digging drainage systems, and putting in water pipes (Chtouris & Miller, 2017). They also provided blankets, snacks, and medical care. Individual citizens fill the international aid void for displaced people, which is a remarkable positive response. The media showcased Greek islanders working in the hotel and hospitality industry welcoming refugees. They also did a professional need assessment, which would be used in courts to force municipalities to provide improved sanitation and water (Jarmusch, 2019).
However, the humanitarian response to the refugee crisis began to change in 2015 when the world humanitarian summit brought together NGOs, government, the UN, and the private sector to discuss improving humanitarian response through cooperation and strong participation (Pamela, 2016). At first, NGOs and international organizations deployed assessment missions rather than actual humanitarian response relief operations, which further aggravated enough response to the humanitarian crisis. However, the national and international NGOs began to work closely with volunteers to provide humanitarian services like providing healthcare, rescuing people at the seas, transporting asylum seekers to the hotspots, etc. The international rescue committee later expanded its Lesbos operations to the north of the island, which changed the volunteer's response based on more professional and official operations by most organizations. Tensions arose between professional NGOs and volunteer as the former started offering services to areas first handled by the latter, which led to creating two separate camps in Lesbos (Dimitris & Loannis, 2016). The media came in to air the absence of state supervision that led to the creation of issues of coordination, effectiveness, and accountability of the response. The conflict between NGOs and the local community was also aired. The process paved the way for increased involvement of the state in humanitarian response.
The state, national, and international NGOs and organizations were left in charge of the crisis response with the banning of all unregistered volunteers to the effect. However, the state’s involvement was guided by national security rather than humanitarian concerns. Some states responded by closing borders to make movement more difficult, punishing refugees with detention, family separation, or even physical violence (Dimitris & Loannis, 2016). The Greek parliament later made a law that limited volunteers and other minor civil actors’ access to the now army-led refugee camps. Major national and international NGOs were the only groups allowed to access the facilities. Europe is focused on stopping migration rather than protecting people's human rights. In response, many NGOs have decided not to work in Greece, given the conditions.
Measures that Took Place to Address the Unaccompanied Children Needs
An estimated 300,000 migrant and asylum-seeking children who arrived in Europe since 2015, 26,000 were unaccompanied. According to safe children and Europol estimates, 10,000 of them have disappeared since the crisis (McDonough & Tsourdi, 2012). The fear is that many may have fallen in the hands of human traffickers or are victims of other violence forms. The UN convention on children rights and the European convention on human rights in dealing with migrants and asylum-seeking children must uphold principles of non-discrimination on any ground, children’s’ rights to life, best interests of a child, children as right-holders, survival and development, child participation, and family unit. They embraced a child-rights based approach. They needed to protect unaccompanied children from falling victims of violence, abuse, trafficking, and exploitation by providing adequate protection (Gkionakis, 2016). It could be done by having procedures for rapidly appointing legal guardians for the unaccompanied children, providing suitable accommodation and highly trained foster parents, carrying out registration and documentation as soon as the child is identified, and ensuring timely identification unaccompanied children trafficking victims.
Additionally, the member states should work collaboratively with EU, FRONTEX, relevant UN agencies like UNHCR and UNICEF, and other partners to train the concerned staff, police, and immigration officers to address the needs of asylum-seeking children. Girls should be given special attention to ensure protection from multiple risks and combat hate crimes (McDonough & Tsourdi, 2012). Additionally, efforts should be made to end placement of such children in immigration detention facilities, improve age assessment procedures to ensure the children benefit from their entitled protection, and ensure gender consideration in dealing with unaccompanied children where all genders are protected from their most exposed violence forms. The states should also ensure that the children have access to education and are prevented from statelessness since such children may not prove paternity (Gkionakis, 2016). Unaccompanied children are usually exposed to specific risks, which makes it important for the states to place protection policies for them.
