Immediately after the holidays, a provision will be introduced in Parliament that will provide for the granting of a 10-year residence permit in our country to those children from third countries who have successfully completed – before reaching the age of 23 – at least three classes of a Greek school, as well as a two-year permit residence permit, which will be renewed, for children placed in foster families.

This was announced by Deputy Minister of Immigration and Asylum Sophia Vultepsi, noting that her proposal was approved today by the Cabinet of Ministers, which met under the Prime Minister.

“Until the order comes, we are in touch with our structures so that children who have reached the age of majority by the end of the year are not left outside the structures, which, as we know, means drug trafficking, ghettoization, marginalization, violence,” Ms. Wultepsi said, informing the competent sub-committee of Parliament, which today opened a round of discussions on “actions to combat human trafficking and exploitation”.

“When the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Minors was set up, it became the largest tracing operation. Some 5,500 unaccompanied children have been found in the jungles of Moria, in the favelas of Samos, on the roads of the hinterland, in police stations. Now we have these children in 72 institutions, they are fully protected, and we continue to monitor the process of growing up. Therefore, we associate this situation with school attendance by these children,” Ms. Vultepsi emphasized.

As he elaborated, “The regulation will provide that unaccompanied minors who have successfully completed at least three classes of a Greek school before the age of 23, or children who are accepted into a university or other DIPA technical or government training centers, will be granted a 10-year residency. period of validity of the permit.

“This means that in 10 years he will have legality and permanence and will be able to work. It will also be provided that minor third-country nationals placed in foster families will be given the opportunity for these children to have a two-year residence permit, which will be extended each time depending on how the child is progressing in The New Family Will Travel,” added Mrs. Wooltepsy.

For his part, Lefteris Oikonomou, Deputy Minister of Citizens’ Protection in charge of anti-crime policy, stressed the importance of informing citizens and training emergency response and border guards.

As Mr. Oikonomou said, human trafficking and exploitation “is a pre-planned and well-organized criminal activity with international and multi-level ramifications that brings huge financial benefits to illegal networks.” At the same time, he assured that “the country has a sufficient legal modern arsenal”, and added that “we are sending a signal of a firm, enduring will to combat this phenomenon.”

“The goal of our actions is to expand and deepen cooperation at the national and international levels. The competent department at the personnel level is the Department of Public Security and Law Enforcement. At the operational level, there are 12 anti-trafficking teams and two anti-trafficking departments throughout the country,” he said.

“I am deeply convinced that the successful solution of the problem of human trafficking and all types of human exploitation requires close and multi-level cooperation of all of us. At the same time, support for the victims should be no less important, which should be mobilized by all the political forces of the country,” he said.

For his part, Heraclis Moskoff, Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors at the Department of Immigration, stressed that “many institutional steps have been taken in the right direction, but we cannot say that this phenomenon is being fought in our country or internationally.”

“There are no magic solutions. What is most needed is education, education, education so that the victim can feel safe and cooperate. Stronger cooperation with prosecutors is needed to ensure that victims enjoy the rights to which they are entitled and feel safe and secure. All efforts are needed,” Mr. Moskov emphasized.

Spyridon Bratsikas, police officer number 1, head of the anti-trafficking team of the Greek police, noted that “in the update made by the European Commission to the regulation on human trafficking, one of the main points it recommends is to have more success on demand” .

“This is of great importance, and this is done because human trafficking is associated with profit. This is a purely economic phenomenon and obeys the law of supply and demand. As long as there is demand, there will be supply. If we face demand, we will face supply,” he said. He also noted that “many cases investigated by ELAS occurred on the basis of complaints from citizens who were in the know, and this is the result of an information campaign.”

“The police can’t be everywhere for this and we need the public on our side in the sense that if they see anything suspicious they’ll call 100 to get to where the case needs to go. Our country, first of all, due to its geographical location and circumstances, is part of the human trafficking chain. Greece is a destination country, but also an intermediate country. Therefore, if we want to have a holistic response to human trafficking, we must have greater cooperation to assist and protect victims so that they can integrate into society,” he emphasized and concluded: “Combating human trafficking and exploitation is the main task of the GREEK POLICE. In this context, we attach great importance to cooperation with relevant agencies and training in the sense of awareness, which is also a basic rule for people on the front lines. We mean not only the arrest of criminals, but also the fact that the case files are closed and guilt or innocence is proven, so that in the end the criminals go to jail, and we send a message to society and everyone: criminals should think twice before proceeding to such actions.”

Source: RES-IPE