Country:Greece

Committee:UNICEF1
Delegate:AdamAlvord
Topics:W
arTornChildren&Rape

OpeningStatement

Overthepastfewyears,millionsofrefugeeshavetraveledthroughmanyMiddleEasterna nd
Europeanc ountries.Theserefugeesliveinsomeoftheworstc onditions.Noa ccesstoc leanwater,not
enoughfood,a ndtemporaryhousinga rea llc ommonplace.Ithasbeene stimatedthata roundhalfofthese
refugeesa reundera ge18.Itse asyformosttooverlookthisissue,brushingitofffornotbeinga s
prominenta sdealingwiththegeneralc risis.Butwea ssureyouthatc areforc hildrenisa separate,a nd
equallyimportantissue.Childrena ndfamiliesa remakingthejourneybyseainsearchofc itizenship
anda betterlifeinEuropeanc ountries,butthisjourneyisdangerous.Thesec hildrena rewashingupon
theshoresofLesbos,a ndGreecea lonec annothelpthema ll.

NationalActions

Overthepastfewyears,Greecehasbeenstrugglingwitha veryuniquea daptationofthe

refugeec risis.Nearly2millionrefugeeshavemadetheirwayintoTurkey,a lthoughfewofthemwantto
staythere.Theya remakingtheirwaythroughplaceslikeGreecetojourneyonwardsintoEurope.They
havedeterminedthatthefastesta ndsupposedlye asiestwaytodothatisbysea.Over1.1million
refugeeshavea rrivedonGreekshoresfromTurkey,manyofwhicha rec hildrena ndfamilies.Greeceis
providinga smuchhumanitariana ida spossiblewithwhatfundingwehavea vailable,howeverthisis
seldome nough.Refugeebabiesa ndyoungc hildreninGreekrefugeec ampsa regoinghungry,a sGreece
doesnthavethemoneytoprovidee noughmilktofeedthem,onlya bout100mlperc hild.TheUNHCR
reportsthata bout38%ofrefugeesa rrivinginGreecebyseaa rec hildren,a ndGreecesimplyc annot
keepupwiththesheernumberofrefugeesthatrequirea idofsomekind.

InternationalActions

AsofMarch18,theEuropeanUnionhasmadea na greementwithTurkeytohelpstoptheflow
ofrefugeesintoGreecebysea.Thisa greementstatesthata llrefugeeswillbetemporarilydetainedin
refugeec ampsinGreece,thensentbacktoTurkey.Fore verySyrianrefugeesentback,ofwhichmake

up49%ofa llrefugeesa rrivingbysea,theEUwillrelocatea SyrianrefugeeinTurkeytoa European

country.Turkeywasa lsogivena ninitial3billionina idforitsrefugees,a ndtheEUwillgivea nother
3billiononcethefirstinvestmentisneare xpended.TheUNHCRisa lsogivingrefugeesinGreece
informationonproperproceduresa ndtheirrightstoseekinga syluminEuropeanc ountries.

Recommendations

Inresponsetoa lmost2millionrefugeespouringoverTurkishborders,Greecebelievesthat
theserefugeesshouldberelocateda nddistributeda crossc ountriesinEuropea ndNorthAmericabased
onthec ountry'swealth,populationa nde conomicstability.Thisway,poorer,lessstablec ountrieslike
Turkeyhavea ne asiertimec aringforrefugees,a ndlargerc ountriesc ana lsodotheirpart.Atthevery
least,Greecea sksthatwealthier,morestablec ountriesgivefundingtosupportthesetroubledc ountries.

WorksCited:

EuropeanCommission."EUTurkeyAgreement:Questionsa ndAnswers."European
Commission.N.p.,19Mar.2016.Web.20Apr.2016.

Kingsley,Patrick."RefugeeBabiesDetainedonGreekIsland'notGettingAdequateMilk'"T
he
Guardian.GuardianNewsa ndMedia,19Apr.2016.Web.20Apr.2016.

Psaropoulos,John."GreeceReactstoEU'sHardLineonRefugees."AlJ azeera.AlJazeera,27
Jan.2016.Web.20Apr.2016.

UNHCR."UNHCRRefugees/MigrantsEmergencyResponseMediterranean."U
NHCR
Refugees/MigrantsEmergencyResponseMediterranean.N.p.,26Apr.2016.Web.20May2016

UNHCR."Greece:HealthRiskToRefugeeChildrenInIdomeni."Y
ouTube.UNHCR,24Mar.
2016.Web.20April2016.

UNNewsCentre."AsEuropeConfrontsGreekDebtCrisis,UNExpertSaysNewMeasures
MustNotLoseSightofHumanRights."UNNewsCenter.UN,15July2015.Web.20Apr.2016.

UNHCR."Greece."UNHCRNews.UNHCR,22Dec.2015.Web.20Apr.2016.