Creating a safety net for unaccompanied minors in Greece: The Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors.

Abstract

This essay presents the role and structure of the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection (GSVPIP) established in Greece at the Ministry of Migration and Asylum in June 2023 as the competent national authority for the protection of unaccompanied minors. The General Secretariat supersedes and takes over the competences of the Special Secretariat for Unaccompanied Minors (SSPUAM) which had been operating since February 2020. Unaccompanied minors are third country nationals or stateless children who arrive in Greece, unaccompanied by the adult responsible for them and who are left unaccompanied after they enter the Greek territory. These children, who usually enter in the country unregistered, are in grave risk of falling victim to trafficking networks and being subject to abuse, violence, or exploitation; additionally, they may be trapped in forced labour, criminality, or sexual work. The need to urgently respond to problems demands the constant evolution and amelioration of the structures and strategies involved, where all existing agencies (public and private) work together under the supervision of GSVPIP to ensure the rescue of the children-victims of war or migration. Still, as existing conflicts continue and new wars evolve, there are numerous pressing goals to be achieved and many new challenges to be faced, which force people, and especially children, to leave their countries in the thousands, facing great danger during their journeys in the quest for a better life and survival.