President issues plea for protection of people fleeing persecution
The protection and care of asylum seekers who are persecuted is an obligation of any society that respects human life, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Saturday, on the occassion of the World Refugee Day.
Sakellaropoulou spoke of "a rare and moving experience" visiting a center for unaccompanied girl refugees in the Athenian district of Ilion on Friday where she spoke with girls aged 12-18 who had left their homes in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia and Congo.
"The protection and care of children, the persecuted, those whose life and freedom is threatened, is an obligation of every society that places human beings center-stage," she observed.
"Greece, as a crossroads between East and West, a gateway for the European Union, has shouldered and continues to shoulder a great weight, but has proven that it respects human justice," she added.
