IOM, CEB cooperate with Church charity to help refugee minors

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Wednesday announced that it was cooperating with a Church of Greece charity, utilizing funds from the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), to improve accommodation facilities for unaccompanied migrant children in Greece.

“The action aims at safeguarding the well-being of each unaccompanied child and ensuring provision of safe environment as foreseen by the Greek and EU laws,” the IOM said in a statement without determining the size of the available funds.

The project aims to refurbish and extend three shelters in Attica, two of them in central Athens, the statement said.

The Church’s Integration Center for Migrant Workers – Ecumenical Refugee Program runs daily activities at the shelters, each of which can host up to 40 children.

The project also aims to increase the number of places at hostels for unaccompanied migrant children, the statement said, adding that the goal is to move them out of overcrowded reception centers and protective custody and find them “a safe and secure long-term accommodation solution.”

Some 5,000 unaccompanied migrant minors currently reside in Greece.