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New reception centre for unaccompanied refugee boys in Athens

A new reception centre for unaccompanied refugee boys opened in the suburbs of Athens on Tuesday, offering those who have made the perilous journey to Europe a safe space, away from traffickers and others seeking to exploit them.

Struggling to cope with tens of thousands of migrants and refugees, Greece has been criticised for keeping youngsters in overcrowded detention centres or even locking them up in police cells.

Seeking to tackle that situation, Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas told reporters: “We know we have too much work to do.”

“We try hard. We don’t know when and how we will succeed, as the problem is ongoing, but we will succeed. Not with the speed the problem requires, not with the speed that we expected, but faster than the objective circumstances allow.”

The new facility for 100 children is co-managed and funded by medical charity Médecins du Monde and the International Organisation for Migration.