Press Release
12/03/2025

Ensuring the best interests of unaccompanied minors through the perspective of Guardianship

The conference entitled “From Shadow to Safety: sustainable solutions for unaccompanied children through the perspective of Guardianship”, organized by METAdrasi with the support of Family For Every Child, was held at the Amphitheatre of the National Gallery, on March 10, 2025. The large participation and the wide representation of the State and the stakeholders, highlighted how crucial the effective protection of unaccompanied children and the key role of the institution of Guardianship is. The Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum, Ms Sophia Voultepsi and the UNHCR’s Representative in Greece, Ms Maria Clara Martin addressed the event.

What are the consequences for unaccompanied children, for the institutions responsible for their care, for the already overburdened infrastructure of the host country, of the delay in placing children in a framework that is the best solution for their further progress? What are the specific challenges, both at points of entry and in the mainland?

How important is the role of the Guardians in ensuring the rights of unaccompanied children and how far does this institution meet the requirements of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum?

These were some of the key questions answered at the conference, shedding light on aspects that have been little highlighted, although crucial.

At the conference, the findings of METAdrasi’s study on family reunification (Dublin III) for the period 2015-2023 were presented for the first time, showing that 30 to 40% of unaccompanied children arriving in our country are cases of family reunification with relatives in other EU countries. It was highlighted how the lack of common, stable criteria for the acceptance of reunification requests enables the countries of destination of the children to require from the host countries additional bureaucratic procedures, often excessive, resulting in the inability to respond and the “cancellation” of child reunifications.

Also for the first time, the results of the implementation of the National Guardianship System, which started in 2024 and is being implemented in close cooperation with the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection and co-funded by the European Union, were presented at the conference. Within one year, 87% of unaccompanied children in Greece got their own Guardianship mandated person, the person who ensures that their rights are safeguarded and their best interests are taken care of. In total, 4,978 unaccompanied children were supported by the institution of Guardianship, of which 3,505 were supported by METAdrasi’s Guardianship mandated persons, as a coordinating partner.

At the same time, proposals for improvement were discussed and challenges regarding the implementation of the institution of the Guardianship were presented: The delay in appointing a guardian for the child, the critical compliance with deadlines for family reunification cases, the resolution of bureaucratic issues, and funding stability were some of the main problems mentioned. A further point of concern, which was strongly discussed, was the general assumption that when the number of arrivals of unaccompanied children is high and the places in the accommodation facilities are not sufficient, the solidarity mechanism provided for in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum should be activated immediately, so that the children are not accumulated in unsuitable conditions in camps, as is currently the case in Samos and Malakasa, but are immediately relocated to other countries of the European Union.

Despite the challenges and problems, as METAdrasi’s President, Lora Pappa, stated, it is positive that we see the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection trying to solve problems that have existed for many years.

As the New Pact on Migration and Asylum is expected to enter into force on the 1st of July 2026, the fact that Greece has already started implementing the institution of the Guardianship is an undeniable success, both at national and European level. In this context, the role of the Guardian will continue to be of key importance, with the hope that it will be further strengthened and lead every unaccompanied child “from shadow to safety”.