Four children fleeing Syria to arrive in Ireland by end October

Ireland will this month welcome its first four unaccompanied children who are fleeing the conflict in Syria – more than a year after plans to accept children from so-called “hot-spots” in Greece and Italy were announced.

The four children, coming from Greece, will be the first of 20 Ireland has agreed to take by the end of next year under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme. It was established last year to participate in the EU’s refugee relocation scheme. One separated child arrived earlier in the year, with an extended family member.

Conditions and dangers

The numbers have been described as “very disappointing” by the Children’s Rights Alliance, which says it is “critical” the Government does all it can to help children escape “appalling conditions and dangers” facing them in overcrowded camps in Europe.

Alliance chief executive Tanya Ward said it was “difficult to understand” why Ireland had pledged to take so few unaccompanied children, particular given that Finland, which has a comparable population, has taken almost 40 so far and has moved to increase its capacity to take more.

Earlier this month, staff from child and family agency Tusla travelled to Greece to meet unaccompanied children identified for relocation. They will be “immediately allocated a social worker” on arrival, Tusla said.

Where possible, the minors will be reunited with family. If not, those over 12 will be placed in a “specialist six-bed unit for separated children”. Those under 12 will be placed with foster families “specifically trained in the unique experiences and needs of separated children”.

Eurostat shows more than 109,000 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in the EU between the start of last year and August. To the end of June this year, 23 unaccompanied children had relocated from Greece and Italy – 20 to Finland, two to Luxembourg and one to the Netherlands.

“More pledges [to take children] are urgently needed,” the European Commission said in June.

According to the European Commission, neither Greece nor Italy has the capacity to care for these vulnerable asylum seekers. In Greece, hundreds of children are being detained in police stations.

Violence and exploitation

“Children [seeking asylum] are at severe risk of enduring violence, sexual violence, exploitation and going missing,” the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency said in May. Most are not getting education, many have been trafficked and at least 30 per cent show signs of mental trauma.

Ms Ward said Ireland was not alone in taking very few unaccompanied children, and several member states have not agreed to take any. But, she said, Tusla was “very well-equipped to give these children the care they need”.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the Government recognised “the importance of addressing the position of unaccompanied minors. Ireland is committed to relocating unaccompanied minors and is actively working to overcome the barriers . . .”