Family law

The process of moving thousands of migrants out of state facilities and subsidized accommodation across the country is to begin on Monday though authorities have not determined which facilities will be affected first nor how long the process will take. 

The US government will provide 2.9 million dollars in financial assistance to Greece to improve the living conditions of unaccompanied minors and support the islands against the Covid-19 pandemic, it was announced by Alternate Minister for Citizens' Protection Giorgos Koumoutsakos and US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt following a meeting on Thursday.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday urged Greek authorities to release 276 unaccompanied migrant children detained in police cells and detention centers across the country, saying the move was all the more urgent due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Greek authorities say two Afghan men have been jailed for six years and nine months each after being convicted of participating in riots this week at a migrant detention center near the border with Turkey where some 150 unaccompanied minors are being held.

Portugal is to take in 500 children from Greek refugee camps as soon as restrictions on movement imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak are lifted, the country's Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Tuesday.

Police in northern Greece say migrants at a holding site near the country's border with Turkey have staged violent protests following weeks of delays in processing their asylum claims due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Authorities said the protests also involved unaccompanied minors at the closed facility which currently houses some 250 asylum seekers. No injuries were reported.

In 2019, 13 800 asylum seekers applying for international protection in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) were considered to be unaccompanied minors, nearly 20% fewer than in 2018 (16 800), continuing the downward trend that started after the peak year 2015 (92 000). In 2019, at the EU level, unaccompanied minors accounted for 7% of all asylum applicants aged less than 18.

As people across the world have to live under lockdown to stem the coronavirus pandemic, prolonged isolation could cause many relationships to falter, according to experts on mental health and legal issues.

"A divorce pandemic may be around the corner," Yudum Söylemez, a lecturer of psychology at Istanbul's Bilgi University, told Anadolu Agency.

Greece's Alternate Migration Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos and Britain's minister for immigration compliance, Chris Philp, on Wednesday signed a bilateral plan aimed at boosting cooperation in responding to irregular migration.

Greece transferred a dozen unaccompanied children from overcrowded migrant camps to Luxembourg on Wednesday, the first of more than 1,000 relocations that are being expedited amid concerns over the impact of coronavirus on vulnerable groups.