An unaccompanied minor is a person below the age of 18, who arrives in Greece unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him/her according to the Greek legislation or practice and will remain so as long as the minor is not effectively taken into the care of such a person, or a minor who is left unaccompanied after he/she has entered in Greece.
The representative of a minor is the temporary or permanent guardian of the minor or the person appointed by the competent Public Prosecutor for Minors or, in the absence of the latter, by the First Instance Public Prosecutor to ensure the minor’s best interests.
The Public Prosecutor for minors is the temporary guardian for all unaccompanied minors, until the appointment of the permanent guardian. It is the duty of the prosecutor to ask the court to appoint a permanent guardian for the unaccompanied minor. However, it appears that, due to the absence of a well-functioning guardianship-system, this is not always done. Therefore in reality, the prosecutor for minors will remain the guardian during the stay of an unaccompanied minor in Greece.
Unaccompanied minors can visit the office of the prosecutor of minors on Monday- and Wednesday-morning. It has to be noted that some promising activities are taking place by Greek NGOs trying to build a guardianship system for unaccompanied minors together with the authorities of Greece.
As mentioned at the definition of UMA’s, Greece considers minors coming to Greece without parents, legal representative or guardian as unaccompanied minors. This means that in case an unaccompanied minor is transferred to Greece on the basis of the Dublin Regulation, because the unaccompanied minor has a relative, brother, sister or family member in Greece, a representative has to be appointed.
It is also explained that initiatives concerning guardianship are going on in Greece. However, at this stage it is the Prosecutor for minors who is responsible for the guardianship for unaccompanied minors. This prosecutor works at the administrative court in Athens.
Contact
First Instance Court
Public Prosecutor
10 Evelpidon Street, building 16 in Athens
Fax: 0030.210.8827713