Author: reliefweb.int | 17 May 2019
Since 2011, METAdrasi has safely escorted 11,000 unaccompanied children to appropriate accommodation facilities
For decades, unaccompanied minor refugees who arrived in Greece remained for a long time in detention facilities, under precarious and inappropriate conditions, exposed in dangers and exploitation networks. METAdrasi, since its founding in 2011, and following the “no child in detention” principle, sought to resolve this long-standing problem, by initiating the activity “Escorting Missions for Unaccompanied Children”. Within three months, the news of the creation of an entity responsible for escorting children had spread across Greece. METAdrasi was overwhelmed by escorting requests, mainly from police stations looking for ways to transport children refugees who were in their holding cells towards appropriate accommodation facilities. Thus, METAdrasi’s trained network of escorts was created, which consists of social scientists and interpreters, is active throughout Greece and operating ad hoc every time a need for escorting comes up.