Athens/Kos, May 17, 2024 – Together with the artist LOTTE, the children's rights organization terre des hommes is appealing for refugee children and young people at the EU's external borders not to be abandoned. As a terre des hommes ambassador, LOTTE had previously visited projects for refugee children in Athens and on the Greek island of Kos, learned about the work of terre des hommes partner organizations, and gained a firsthand impression of the situation on the ground.
“I knew about the horrific pushbacks where children, teenagers, and families are forcibly pushed back when they flee across the sea to Greece. But seeing traumatized, vulnerable, and even unaccompanied children held behind barbed wire on huge concrete fortresses during their asylum procedures on Kos was a shock to me. There is never, under any circumstances, any excuse for children being imprisoned or separated from their families,” said Lotte.
The camp system on the Greek islands has long been criticized by terre des hommes and other civil society organizations: In addition to the detention, which violates children's rights, the lack of privacy, completely inadequate healthcare, and insufficient educational opportunities systematically infringe upon children's rights. "Even if they are granted asylum, families in Kos often end up on the streets because the Greek reception system offers virtually no support," LOTTE continued.
In Athens, numerous unaccompanied minor refugees also live on the streets and are thus exposed to the risk of human trafficking and prostitution. Families whose asylum applications have already been approved can often stay overnight in the completely overcrowded camps outside the city, but receive no support there. "In the projects of terre des hommes refugee families receive urgently needed food and hygiene products, as well as legal advice. Together with terre des hommes , I am committed to ensuring that those who have experienced abuse and violence, war and flight find protection in Europe."
With the European elections on June 9th in mind terre des hommes calls on all EU citizens to use their voices to advocate for greater humanity: "Both the Greek government and the EU must finally live up to their responsibility for children, young people, and their families seeking protection," says Teresa Wilmes, expert on refugees and migration in Europe. "At the same time, Germany in particular should relieve the burden on state systems at the EU's external borders with comprehensive resettlement programs and offer children and young people seeking protection real prospects after their often long journeys."