President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou visited the accommodation facilities for unaccompanied migrant minors in Ilion (a suburb west of Athens), on Thursday, ANT news reported.
She was accompanied by Eirini Agapidaki, Greek Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors and Gianluca Rocco, the head of International Organisation of Migration (IOM) in Greece.
Sakellaropoulou was briefed by Agapidaki on the strategy for integrating the minors in Greek society, while Rocco referred to the important efforts made by Greece in cooperation with the competent bodies to support integration.
According to the announcement, "the President of the Hellenic Republic was guided by the coordinators of the accomodation facilities, Dora Briazna and Efi Kontouni, who described the difficulties they encounter with the children as they are extremely vulnerable and have a particularly burdensome history: abuse or neglect by the family environment (...) intertwined with the exploitation of their gender identity."
The President also spoke to the 24 children (aged 12 to 18 from Asia and Africa), which the facility cares for.
"I am very happy to see you here. I know that you had difficult times in the past. I believe, however, that you should leave difficulties behind and move ahead. You must try to take advantage of all the offered opportunities and believe that you can make your dreams come true and succeed in every goal you set in your life," she told the girls.