Announcement of suspension of the support activities of the Child Protection Unit for unaccompanied children

The Network for the Rights of the Child (Network) announces the suspension of the support activities for unaccompanied children carried out by the Child Protection Unit of our non-profit association, which were part of the program "Strengthening the protection system for unaccompanied minors and vulnerable women applicants and beneficiaries of international protection", which is implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and funded by the National Development Program through the Special Service for Coordination and Management of Migration and Home Affairs Programs of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

Given the expiration of the relevant cooperation agreement, today 30/4/26, and since, despite our constant pressure for information and planning of any follow-up, there has been no official response and commitment from the competent Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, even at the last minute, the Network cannot maintain its above services to unaccompanied minors at the current time as it does not have the necessary resources but also does not have the necessary authorization and legalization to do so.

As for resources, the Network, throughout the previous period of the implementation of the said program, was essentially forced to self-finance due to very serious delays in the payment of this specific funding, which continue while the program ends today. The Network considered this specific action necessary, as it did during the corresponding previous program (which, incidentally, although it ended on 31/10/25, has not been repaid by the Ministry to this day), as it considered that it must be consistent with its contractual obligations towards its employees and suppliers, but primarily because it considered that the protection of children cannot be suspended due to financial delays. Unfortunately, however, our association's resources have now been exhausted.

Consequently, as is self-evident, our participation in any new actions regarding unaccompanied children can only be discussed if and when there is a new program agreement with the Ministry.

At this point, we would like to recall that the protection of unaccompanied children was a clear and essential choice of the Prime Minister of the country himself, as it was his own decision that created the Special (now General) Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons, which was integrated into the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum. The Network was one of the first civil society organizations that, since 2020, with its experience and expertise, supported the establishment of this Secretariat and subsequently - and since then - has been supporting its work by offering key services to unaccompanied children. To date, we have assisted more than 7,000 children, who not only needed housing but many of them faced extremely serious conditions of vulnerability, insecurity and risk, such as cases of children with serious health problems, children rescued from shipwrecks as well as children who fell victim to gangs, economic and/or sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

These children still exist and will continue to arrive in our country due to the general situation on our planet. Their needs remain critical and their protection is non-negotiable. The Ministry of Immigration and Asylum as well as all competent state bodies must assume their responsibility.

Network for Children’s Rights