50 unaccompanied refugee children left Athens international airport for a new life in Germany on Saturday morning. The minors aged 5-16 had arrived in Athens a few days ago from the overcrowded hotspots on the Greek islands, the Reception and Identification Centers of Lesvos, Chios and Samos.
An special flight of Aegean airlines brings the children in Hannover where they will initially stay in a 14-day “house isolation” in accommodation facilities. Some of the children will reunite with their families.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accompanied the children to the airplane and gave them some presents.
“Today is a very moving day, as 50 unaccompanied refugee minors are leaving Greece to find a new home in Germany. For many months now, the Greek government has been struggling to sensitize the rest of Europe to support our country, so that more unaccompanied refugee children, young children who have escaped the war, persecution, can find new families and make a new one. beginning in their lives,” Mitsotakis said.
He added that more than 1,500 children will be able to leave Greece in the coming months and find a new family in European countries.
Along with the Prime Minister present at the airport were the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Asylum, George Koumoutsakos, the Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors, Irini Agapidaki and the German Ambassador to Greece, Ernst Reich.
The European relocation plan for a total of 1,600 unaccompanied minors in European Union member states is the result of a Greek initiative by PM Mitsotakis who has made the issue of unaccompanied minor refugees in Greece a personal priority.
This is the second group of unaccompanied minors to leave Greece after 12 children were relocated to Luxembourg beginning of the week.
