UN "shocked" by conditions for Afghan children in Greece

Aug 28, 2009, 10:44 GMT

Geneva - A delegation from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) was 'shocked' by the conditions at a detention centre in Greece which was overcrowded and holding 200 children.

UNHCR said the situation at the detention centre at Pagani on the island of Lesvos was 'unacceptable,' as it only had capacity for up to 300 people, but was actually holding over 850.

'One room houses over 150 women and 50 babies, many suffering from illness related to the cramped and unsanitary conditions of the centre,' said UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic.

'They were shocked at the condition in the facility,' he said, referring to the UN staff who visited.

Most of the 200 unaccompanied children packed into the centre come from Afghanistan.

UNHCR said the situation in Lesvos was representative of 'broader problems' in Greece's handling of irregular migration. A joint plan drawn up last year by the UN and government to overhaul the country's asylum system has not been implemented.

In 2008, Greece's coast guard said 2,648 children who were not accompanied by their parents or other guardians arrived in the country, but UN officials believe many more entered undetected.

'While the government has made efforts to increase the number of places for children at specialized, open centres, arrivals outstrip these efforts and children remain in detention for long periods,' Mahecic said.

The Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity began transferring the children at the centre in Lesvos to a special facility and all would make it there by the end of the month, a deputy minister promised the UN.