The coronavirus has reached the first refugee camps on the Greek mainland. Action must now be taken quickly, as it is probably only a matter of time before the virus also reaches the completely overcrowded refugee camps on the Greek islands. Several thousand children are living there in extremely precarious conditions. terre des hommes schweiz is therefore supporting the petition “Protection for children on the run”. Sign it now!
What refugee organizations have been warning about for weeks has now happened. The first cases of coronavirus have appeared in camps on the Greek mainland. We are therefore calling on the Federal Council to react quickly: it should bring 200 unaccompanied minors from the refugee camps on the Greek islands to Switzerland and carry out asylum procedures.
At the end of January, Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter had already promised to respond to the impending humanitarian disaster in Greece. She wanted to bring underage refugees with family connections to Switzerland. The Federal Council thus joined an initiative by several EU states that wanted to take in 1,600 unaccompanied minor migrants. Not much has happened so far. While politicians at home and abroad wait for a pan-European solution, the virus continues to spread. It is now increasingly threatening the most vulnerable refugees, who already have poor medical and hygiene care.
The petition therefore calls for protection for children on the run:
- 200 unaccompanied minor refugees are brought to Switzerland as quickly as possible, regardless of family connections, in order to complete asylum procedures here.
- The selection of children is based on vulnerability criteria, such as the age of the children.
- In Switzerland, the children are accommodated, cared for and accompanied through the asylum procedure in an age-appropriate manner in accordance with federal guidelines.
Sign now, click here for the petition!
We welcome Karin Keller-Sutter’s action plan to take in children and young people with family ties to Switzerland. However, Switzerland is already obliged to do so under Articles 6 and 8 of the Dublin Regulation on the treatment of asylum seekers who are minors. In view of the threat posed by the coronavirus, it is necessary to grant protection to more children and young people on the run. The number of asylum applications in Switzerland is at its lowest level since 2009 and the federal government has created infrastructure for accelerated asylum procedures that it can use for this purpose.
terre des hommes schweiz is committed to helping children and young people on the run with its MePower project and the international Destination Unknown campaign, as they require special protection. Traumatic experiences can have a long-term impact on their mental health and children who are refugees without parents are particularly vulnerable. Sign the petition to protect children on the run now!
Photo from the Moria refugee camp in Greece: Christian Grund
