Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-05-18

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] President Pavlopoulos' message on Day of Remembrance of the Genocide of Pontus Hellenism

[02] Number of unaccompanied children has skyrocketed, says UNICEF report

[03] Greek budget records primary deficit in cash basis in Jan-April

[01] President Pavlopoulos' message on Day of Remembrance of the Genocide of Pontus Hellenism

The hardships we experience, especially through the barbarity of jihadist terrorism, prove that the nightmare of crimes against Humanity is unfortunately not over. That is why the Sacred Memory of the Tragic Victims of the Greek Genocide of the Pontus must remain alive to keep the world on alert," Pavlopoulos said and added: "The Greek nation, fulfilling its basic, historical and institutional obligation - on the basis of the provisions of Law 2193/1994 - honours this year the sacred memory of the tragic victims of the Pontus Hellenism, proving in practice that we do not forget this atrocious crime against Humanity."

The message of the President of the Republic concluded: "On this Remembrance Day we call on all peoples not to forget the victims and of any other genocide, given that only the whole world - and consequently the International Community - will prevent similar atrocious crimes against Humanity in the future."

[02] Number of unaccompanied children has skyrocketed, says UNICEF report

Specific reasons motivate children to undertake journeys alone. Many seek to reunite with family members already abroad. Others pursue their families' aspirations for this generation to have a better life. Perceptions of the potential benefits of children moving, especially to certain destinations, filter through social networks. Other factors include family breakdown, domestic violence, child marriage and forced conscription.

Once children and families place their fates in the hands of smugglers, the transaction can readily take a turn towards abuse or exploitation – especially when children and families incur debts to pay smugglers' fees. Europol estimates that 20 per cent of suspected smugglers on their radar have ties to human trafficking –they help children cross borders, only to sell them into exploitation, sometimes akin to contemporary forms of slavery. Some routes are particularly rife with risks. In a recent International Organization for Migration survey, over three-quarters of 1,600 children aged 14–17 who arrived in Italy via the Central Mediterranean route reported experiences such as being held against their will or being forced to work without pay at some point during their journeys – indications that they may have been trafficked or otherwise exploited.

On the Central Mediterranean route to Italy in 2015, unaccompanied and separated children made up 75 per cent of all children arriving in Italy by sea; this proportion rose to 92 per cent in 2016 and remained at that level through the first two months of 2017. Most of these children came from Eritrea, the Gambia, Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea. Around 200,000 unaccompanied and separated children applied for asylum in 2015 and 2016 in about 80 countries with available data while about 100,000 were apprehended at the border between Mexico and the United States during the same period. Taken together, these numbers – 300,000 children – demonstrate a dramatic rise, compared to the 66,000 recorded in 2010–2011. These numbers refer to only a subset of children moving across borders on their own. The total number of unaccompanied and separated children on the move worldwide is likely much higher, said UNICEF's report.

[03] Greek budget records primary deficit in cash basis in Jan-April

The central bank, in a monthly report, said the Greek budget recorded a deficit of 188 million euros -on a cash basis- in the January-April period after a surplus of 205 million in the same period last year.

This development reflected a decline in revenue to 13.5 billion euros in the four-month period from 14.1 billion in 2016, while regular budget spending totaled 16.5 billion euros this year from 14.9 bllion in 2016.

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