Ten European cities have agreed to take in and shelter unaccompanied migrant children living in squalid conditions on the Greek islands or in camps near the Turkish border
Following concerns raised by charity organisations and in the hope of putting pressure on national governments who have been reluctant to act, several major European cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Leipzig have written to EU leaders volunteering to accept vulnerable children from Greek camps to ease what some fear is a growing humanitarian crisis.
The scheme was organised by Amsterdam and Utrecht through the Eurocities network, which brings together more than 140 of the continent’s largest municipalities. The cities’ willingness to act has however been hampered by inaction at the government level as they may only proceed if their national governments agree. Seven out of the 10 cities that have made the pledge are located in countries that were not a party to the child relocation effort launched by the European Commission last month.
Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg and Lithuania, have all committed to take in at least 1,600 unaccompanied children from the Greek islands, a figure that represents a little less than one-third of the 5,500 unaccompanied minors estimated to be in the country, however to date only a small number of children have been relocated in accordance with the agreement: 12 to Luxembourg and 47 to Germany.
