IOM, the International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund today welcomed the relocation of 12 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from Greece to Luxembourg.
The children, who had been living in overcrowded reception and identification centers for several months on the islands of Lesvos, Samos and Chios, arrived safely in Luxembourg this afternoon. Germany is in the process of relocating another group of unaccompanied children from Greece, who are due to arrive this weekend.
These are the first relocations under a European Union initiative for 1,600 unaccompanied children in which ten Member States and Switzerland have pledged to participate.
The three UN agencies greeted the arrival as an encouraging start in a larger effort to relocate vulnerable children from Greece in the coming weeks. The Agencies highlighted that the progress made by Greece, Luxembourg and Germany to relocate unaccompanied children is in line with the children’s best interests, considers their international protection needs and takes into account existing family ties.
The relocation efforts are humane, concrete demonstrations of European solidarity. The European Commission’s coordination role has also been crucial to help find Region-wide durable solutions for these particularly vulnerable children. The Agencies noted that there is a need to move beyond one-off relocation exercises and establish more predictable arrangements for relocation within the EU, for longer-term impact.
