A year after the agreement between the EU and Turkey, the human cost for children of refugees and immigrants increase

A year after the closure of the borders in the Balkans and the agreement between the EU and Turkey,…
were aimed at stopping the mass migration flows, children, refugees, immigrants face higher risks of deportation, detention, exploitation and deprivation, says UNICEF.
“Although there was a significant reduction in the total number of children who move to Europe from last March, there has been an increase of threats and the stress endured by the children of refugees and migrants,” said Afshan Khan, Regional Director of UNICEF and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Immigration Crisis in Europe. “It has become a vicious cycle – the kids escape from the pain, and end up either trying to escape, or face a de facto reservation, or just absolute neglect.”
UNICEF, in cooperation with the Greek government and NGO partners, giving priority to appropriate care for the children of refugees and immigrants to cover the psychosocial needs and mental health. Upcoming transfers back to Greece in accordance with the so-called Dublin regulation, is likely to add even more pressure to the situation faced by children and further pressure on existing services.
Instead of stopping the flow, the closure of the border and the agreement between the EU and Turkey, have led to the to take things into their own hands the children and families and embark on even more dangerous and irregular routes with smugglers, as warned by UNICEF and its partners a year ago. Even in 2017, about 3,000 refugees and migrants – about one-third of them children – have arrived in Greece, despite the full implementation of the agreement EU-Turkey relations and the strict control on the border. Many continue to slip through the border into Bulgaria, the Western Balkans and Hungary.
Children who have been excluded in Greece and the Western Balkans have already lost almost three years of training and are now facing a lot of obstacles, such as different languages and educational systems and even a year without training. UNICEF supports the strategy of the Ministry of Education for inclusion of the excluded children of refugees and immigrants in Greek schools. However, only 2,500 of the 15,000 children of school age benefit so far from the national programme in the Greek language.
Despite significant efforts by the government and their partners – about half of the 2.100 unaccompanied children continue to live in substandard conditions, including about 200 unaccompanied children at the premises with a limitation in motion at the beginning of March (178 in reception centers and identification of the islands and 16 of protective custody in police facilities).
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