General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons & Institutional Protection

National Emergency Response Mechanism

The General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection was established with the Presidential Decision 77/2023 (Government Gazette A' 130/ 27-06-2023) to which the services of the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors of article 39 of the P.D. 106/2020 were transferred and falls under the responsibilities of the Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum.

The General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection, as the competent authority for all the issues regarding the unaccompanied minors in the country, has as its strategic objective the planning, implementation and supervision of the National Strategy for the protection of unaccompanied minors, as well as other policies and interventions to ensure the protection of unaccompanied and separated children, third-country nationals or stateless persons who are in Greece. Its responsibilities regarding unaccompanied minors include:

Management of accommodation and relocation requests for unaccompanied minors:

- It coordinates the referral, accompaniment, and integration procedures of minors into accommodation facilities.
- It manages the requests for accommodation and especially the process of finding accommodation positions suitable for the needs of each minor.
- It initiates, registers and implements quality standards for procedures with regards to unaccompanied minors in Greece.
- It coordinates all necessary actions for the implementation of initiatives and programs for the reception and hosting of unaccompanied minors in Greece, in the context of international treaties and other joint international initiatives, such as the voluntary relocation program.

Conduct and evaluation of hosting facilities and supervised apartments for minors. In relation to this area, it has the following responsibilities:

It defines quality standards of operation for hosting facilities and supervised apartments. It also monitors the implementation of quality standards and conducts on-site inspections in collaboration with state and other organizations.
It develops and implements tools and methods to evaluate the quality of service provided to minors in the context of their accommodation.
It designs and implements interventions to improve the quality of service provided to minors. It also supports service providers and staff in their roles.
It maintains the register of hosting centers and supervised apartments for unaccompanied minors.

Support with regards to social integration of unaccompanied minors:

It plans, implements and evaluates programs and actions in collaboration with government and private organization to ensure and facilitate the integration of unaccompanied minors in Greek society.
It identifies and applies efficient solutions with regards to finding family members of unaccompanied minors, as well as procedures for family reunification, voluntary return to their home countries and relocation to other countries. To this end, it collaborates with competent authorities, international organizations and certified organizations in Greece.
It designs and implements campaigns in order to raise awareness for the issue of unaccompanied minors in Greece and highlights the importance of the protection of unaccompanied minors.
It collaborates with other competent services with regards to actions for reception, integration and protection of unaccompanied minors.

Safeguard of the institutional protection of unaccompanied minors. In relation to this key area:

It coordinates the action plans and services of government and private organizations with regards to key focus areas such as accommodation, health, education and employment.
It designs the legislation context, instructions, procedures and practical processes that relate to identify areas of improvement and develop further the existing context of intuitional protection of unaccompanied minors.
It proposes legislative and administrative measures that assist in the implementation of the National Strategy for unaccompanied minors.
It proposes deliberations for issues that pertain to the protection, social integration and the protection of the well-being of unaccompanied minors.
It collaborates with local and central government authorities for the implementation of the objectives of the National Strategy for unaccompanied minors.

Data Reports - Statistics for Unaccompanied Minors

National Emergency Response Mechanism

The National Emergency Response Mechanism includes a hotline that assists in identifying and locating children in need0030 – 2132128888 και 0030 – 6942773030, via WhatsApp or Viber), which is available in six languanges and operates:

Monday - Friday 08:00 - 22:00

Saturday 11:00 - 19:00

The hotline does not operate on national holidays and public holidays.

The Helpline and the Mobile Units in the field:

Ensure that children are never exposed to the dangers of abuse or exploitation in the streets.
Assist in finding and protecting unaccompanied minors that are homeless or in other precarious living conditions.
Access to immediate accommodation
Immediate registration with the competent authorities
Psychological, legal, and medical support and interpretation.
"Best interest assessement."

Email: sg.vp.tracing@migration.gov.gr

Secretary General from July 2023 is Heracles Moskoff

Heracles Moskoff

Heracles Moskoff studied Sociology and Social Anthropology in London and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the London School of Economics with expertise in the political culture of contemporary Greece.

Since 2001 he is working as an Expert Ambassador Consultant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in aspects of Human Security and Migration Policy. In 2013, following the application of the European Anti-Trafficking Directive for the establishment of National Coordinating Authorities for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings, he was appointed Ηead of the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings. Since then, he has implemented the planning and coordination of the National Referral Mechanism for the protection of the victims of trafficking, of the National Action Plan 2018-2022. He has served as a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the National Council against Racism and Intolerance and in the National Committee for Human Rights. He proposed the establishment and in collaboration with the respective Presidency coordinates the monthly sessions of the parliamentary committee against Trafficking & Exploitation of Human Beings, whilst chairing the Committee of the Ministry of Justice with the subject of the protection of victims of Human Trafficking.

Heracles Moskoff represents Greece in the Network of National Coordinators of the EU, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He has been elected a member of the Drafting Committee of the Council of Europe against Human Trafficking with the purpose of labour exploitation.

He has worked as Lecturer in the Department of Communication, Media and Culture of the Panteion University and of the English-speaking MSc in Media and Refugee/Migration Flows of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research reports have been published, among others, by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), and by Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights. Besides, he has been selected by the State Department of the USA as the national representative of Greece in the program ‘Young Leaders’.

From December 28th, 2021 to June 27th, 2023, he served as the Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors at the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. During his term in office, he introduced the adoption of Law 4960/2022 "National Guardianship System and Accommodation Framework for Unaccompanied Minors", through which, in addition to the institutional reform of the Guardianship System for third-country nationals or stateless unaccompanied minors, the framework of their accommodation was regulated. At the same time, the establishment of the National Registry for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors was foreseen, while the accompaniments of unaccompanied minors in their movements within the country were instituted. Furthermore, the uninterrupted operation of the National Emergency Response Mechanism since April 2021 has resulted in the identification and accommodation of approximately

3,000 unaccompanied minors who were living in precarious conditions or were homeless inland in 2022.

On the 21st of July 2023, he was appointed General Secretary of the General Secretariat for Vulnerable Persons and Institutional Protection of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum. The competencies of the Special Secretariat for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors are transferred as a set of responsibilities, organizational units, positions of personnel and supervised bodies, with an expanded strategic planning aimed at forming an effective protective framework for all vulnerable groups of the refugee and migrant population in the country.