Migration to Greece has grown into a severe economic and social problem over the last years with thousands of undocumented illegal migrants passing the country’s borders every year in search of asylum, a better life and work conditions, or a ticket to the rest of Europe.
The phenomenon has become a constant issue in mass media, and endless debates on solving the problem have been launched by political parties, while the country is facing increasing rates of unemployment and social outrage.
The problem seems to grow even bigger for teenage illegal migrants who come to Greece and end up sleeping on benches or washing car windows at streetlights in hopes of getting some change.
Centers and NGOs in Athens and other major cities are trying to come to grips with the issue on a daily basis and report the inefficiency in governmental planning aiming to protect and support these people, while hardships faced by the migrants in their everyday lives are becoming unbearable for many.
An IRIN (humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) report issued recently focused on the exploitation and abuse experienced by most of the incoming unaccompanied migrants who end up locked for months in detention centers and are even afraid to ask for help because of their terrible encounters with the police or other authorities.
The parks of Athens have become a kind of shelter for many minor migrants, who paid thousands of dollars to smugglers to get them to Europe. Most of them have reportedly fled their own countries to financially help their families by working in a prosperous European country.
Young migrants told IRIN that the only money they can make in Greece is by selling recyclables or washing cars. Desperate to leave Greece in order to get to another European country some migrants even indulge in sex for money with men prowling parks, while “migrants camps” are seen by most of them as a cage, where food and bed is provided with no hope or plans for the future.
According to the report, Vassia Chioti, a psychologist at Praksis, another Athens-based NGO that offers medical, legal and social services to migrants, said it was common for families from Afghanistan to sell everything to send one son to Europe. “When they realize they can’t (find work,), they have a lot of guilt and depression,” she was cited as saying.
Without documents and money the options for underage migrants seem limited. They can either return to their countries or sign up in one of the centers where they have food and shelter, learn Greek and try to get a job without much much of a chance of success, making the situation hopeless for many.
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