Around 1,000 migrant children from war-torn regions are struggling to survive in Greece, where there is a “systematic” failure to protect them, global lobby group Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
“Greece completely fails to protect these children,” HRW children’s rights researcher Simone Troller said in a statement.
“Instead of making sure they’re being cared for, officials leave them living on the street without any assistance whatsoever,” she said.
In a 111-page report titled Left to Survive: Systematic Failure to Protect Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Greece released at a press conference, HRW said the children faced a daily fight for survival in Greece and had “close to zero” chances of seeking asylum.
The report documents alleged abuses at the hands of Greek officials including coast guards, regular police and port police officers, noting that even girls as young as 10 are routinely detained and often held with adults.
“They took us out and beat us,” said 16-year-old Jafar F. from Afghanistan, alleging ill-treatment by port police in Patras. “I was thrown inside the sea, taken out and beaten, thrown into the water again, taken out and beaten again.”
“These children find themselves trapped in Greece,” Troller said. “They don’t receive state assistance, they can’t leave the country legally, they are without regular status in Greece and they can’t return home ... they work in dangerous and exploitative jobs, they beg, and they live in squalid places or sleep in parks.”
WIDE REOPENING DISCOURAGED: A study from Peking University has suggested that lifting restrictions in the style of the US, UK and others would be catastrophic China would face a “colossal outbreak” on a scale beyond anything any other country has yet seen if it were to reopen in a similar manner to the US. That is a prediction based on statistical modeling by researchers at Beijing’s Peking University. A switch from China’s current COVID-19 elimination strategy to a US-style approach with few restrictions would lead to as many as 637,155 infections per day, according to the study, which was published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. That would be the largest daily figure reported by any country since the start of the
UNCERTAINTY: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not specify measures NATO might take, but many believe that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project could be canceled The US has said it has evidence that Russia has made plans for a “large scale” attack on Ukraine and said NATO allies are “prepared to impose severe costs” on Moscow if it attempts an invasion. Speaking at a NATO ministers meeting in Latvia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that it was unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a decision to invade, but added: “He’s putting in place the capacity to do so in short order, should he so decide.” “So despite uncertainty about intention and timing, we must prepare for all contingencies while working to see to
NOT ELIGIBLE: Most of those charged over democracy protests were born after the UK handed Hong Kong back to China, figures form Hong Kong Watch showed More than 90 percent of people who have faced protest charges in Hong Kong are too young to access a UK visa scheme dedicated to helping Hong Kongers flee to the UK, say advocates and lawmakers calling for new laws to assist them. The release of the figures on Sunday by advocacy group Hong Kong Watch comes before a British parliamentary debate this week on proposed migration law amendments that would widen the pathway for people with British National Overseas (BNO) status to resettle in the UK. More than 10,000 people were arrested during or after the mass protests that swept Hong
An episode of The Simpsons in which the cartoon family from the US visit Tiananmen Square has been removed from Disney’s streaming channel in Hong Kong at a time when authorities are clamping down on dissent. The missing episode adds to concerns that Chinese-style censorship is becoming the norm in the territory, ensnaring global streaming giants and other major tech companies. Disney+ has made rapid advances since it was launched 18 months ago, reaching more than 116 million worldwide subscribers. The Hong Kong version started streaming earlier this month and eagle-eyed customers soon noticed that an episode of The Simpsons featuring China was
RSS