The Child Protection Unit has been operating since October 2017 with the aim of protecting and supporting unaccompanied minors and their rights. Since April 2021, it has been operating within the framework of the National Emergency Response Mechanism for unaccompanied minors in precarious living conditions under the General Secretariat of Vulnerable Citizens and Institutional Protection. It coordinates the program with Arsis, IOM and METAdrasis, under the coordination of the National Mechanism.
The program is made up of social workers, social scientists, lawyers, psychologists, guides and cultural mediators and is divided into two main pillars:
1.Info Desk
- It consists of caseworkers and lawyers.
- It operates Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 20.00.
- The unaccompanied children served by the Info Desk team are either referrals directly from the National Mechanism, spontaneous arrivals at our office, or unaccompanied children identified by the streetwork team. Social workers, psychologists and lawyers recognize and assess the needs of each child, with their best interests in mind. The aim of the program is the protection and immediate support of unaccompanied children who either live in precarious conditions or are completely homeless, through their immediate housing in emergency accommodation structures. As part of the Info desk, street work is carried out in many areas of Athens with the participation of the Mobile Unit team as well as interpreters, with the aim of identifying unaccompanied children who need support and do not have access to Services.
- As part of the cooperation of the program with the Asylum Service, the caseworkers of the Info Desk are present at the Regional Asylum Offices of Attica, on the days when asylum registrations of unaccompanied children living in precarious conditions are carried out in order to inform them in time about their rights in Greece, the National Emergency Response Mechanism for unaccompanied minors in precarious living conditions and the program’s services.
2. Mobile Units
- The two (2) Mobile Units of the Child Protection Unit operate Monday to Friday from 08.00 am. until 23.00 pm and on Saturday from 11.00 am until 19.00 pm within Attica. Furthermore, the Mobile Units accompany the unaccompanied children, who are located, to the relevant police stations for identification, for medical examinations when deemed necessary, and then to Hospitality Structures.
- Unaccompanied children are identified either by the Info Desk of the Child Protection Unit, or by police authorities, by other organizations, or by citizens who call the National Emergency Response Mechanism themselves. However, in extremely vulnerable cases the Mobile Units themselves carry out the identification and on-site assessment of the needs and best interests of children living in precarious conditions or complete homelessness.
The program provides interpretation in Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Kurmanji, Sorani, Bandini and Urdu.
Helplines:
| Arabic | 0030-6946343357 |
| Arabic | 0030-6944827816 |
| Urdu | 0030-6944827861 |
| Urdu | 0030-6986088296 |
| Farsi | 0030-6944827822 |
| Farsi | 0030-6944827862 |
National Emergency Response Mechanism telephone line: 0030-2132128888 & 0030-6942773030 via Whats app/ Viber.
CPU – Child Protection Unit,
187-189 Konstantinoupoleos Av., Kolonos,
P.O. 104 44, Tel: 212 12 14 062
