Unaccompanied asylum-seeking youth in Greece: protection, liberation and criminalisation

Abstract

This article examines how shifting local attitudes and migration management policies from an emphasis on care and liberation to temporality and criminalisation shape the migration and integration experience of unaccompanied minors (UAMs) in Greece. To address this issue, the study relies on three discourses: voluntary vs. involuntary migration; child protection vs. child liberation; and minors as a potential resource vs. a security threat. Through analysis of testimonies and semi-structured interviews, we found that the state's interpretation of the 'best interests' principle disregards both the needs of UAMs and their rights for protection and ethical care. We argue that the performativity of UAMs as voluntary migrants leaves many of them exposed to violence and abuse by both state (e.g. police, welfare services, migration officials) and non-state (NGO workers) actors. These actors push the minors to 'invisibility', which in turn increases their vulnerability to illegal and criminal activities, such that they often become engaged in or lured into the vicious cycle of criminal gangs, smuggling, trafficking, sexual exploitation and kidnapping.

Psychosocial and integration needs of unaccompanied children in Greece

“…Practitioners strive to fill the gaps in the system and support children effectively, yet they raise the issues of understaffing and inadequate education, training, and supervision of professionals resulting in a lack of shared vision, while their efforts are not oriented toward the inclusion of children but instead toward simply responding to basic needs. As a result, it could be argued that these gaps obstruct social integration and lead to children being marginalized and put at greater social risk (Barn et al, 2021; Kovner et al, 2021).…”

“…Furthermore, the practice of unofficial 'protective custody' thrusts them into 'invisibility', while also increasing their involvement in illegal and criminal activities and thereby heightening the risk of sexual exploitation, trafficking, substance abuse, and kidnapping. At the same time, local communities perceive refugee children as temporary residents who are not interested in integrating into Greek society and who pose a threat to public order (Kovner et al, 2021). The perception that children seeking asylum are dependent on and burdensome to the state is evidenced in the work of refugee agencies, government and nongovernment organizations, as well as in media coverage, and can severely impact the lives of these children.…”

“Can my mother come?” Asylum interviews with unaccompanied and separated children seeking asylum in the Netherlands

“…In current debates around migration, a divide is visible between on the one hand depicting unaccompanied children as vulnerable victims, who are sent away by their parents and are in need of care and protection and on the other hand depicting them as fortune hunters or dangerous young men from "safe countries" who are a threat to Europe's security and social welfare system (Flegar, 2018;Lems et al, 2020;Kovner et al, 2021;Fox et al, 2022).…”