A group of sixteen unaccompanied minor migrants left Greece for France on Friday as part of a European relocation program for 1,600 children living in the country, the Greek Migration Ministry said.
They are “the first group” of minor migrants to France, a country which has promised “to host a total of 350 children” residing in Greece, a ministry statement said.
The destination of this first group is the city of Rennes, in western France, said a ministerial source.
On Monday, another group of 33 minors must leave Greece, including 28 for Nantes and five for Brest (west), according to the same source.
In addition to the 350 minors, France has also committed to welcoming dozens of families of asylum seekers living in Greece, or 400 people, according to the same source. None of these families have yet left Greece.
Decided last year by the Greek government in cooperation with its European partners, the relocation program called “No Child Alone”, is part of a program to protect unaccompanied minors who are victims. of “exploitation and crime”.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the program only started in April with the departure of 12 children to Luxembourg, followed by a second group of 50 minors hosted in Germany.
At the beginning of July a group of 25 minor migrants had been relocated to Finland as well as another of the same number to Portugal, a country which has promised to accommodate a total of 500 children.
The relocation program aims to help Greece cope with around 5,000 unaccompanied children, the vast majority of whom live in unsanitary conditions or in non-child friendly accommodation.
Several European countries – Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Serbia or Switzerland – have decided to participate in this voluntary relocation program.
With AFP
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