The children lost in the system's cracks

Ward at Agia Sophia Children's Hospital in Athens where a minor has been accommodated following a prosecutor's order. [Enri Canaj] Greek hospitals have become de facto shelters for so-called 'prosecutorial children,' minors removed from families under prosecutor's orders amid neglect or abuse suspicions, an investigation by Kathimerini found. In June 2025, two brothers, ages 8 and 11, were sent to Agia Sofia Children's Hospital for suspected neglect. Lacking stable housing and complete documents, they waited months as at least eight requests to transfer them to shelters were denied. They vanished without permission in July, reappeared in August with a sister, then disappeared again. In late August, police found the three siblings in an Airbnb in Kypseli, along with drugs and an infant's body in a cooler bag. Their German mother, 38, and a 43-year-old Greek man who claimed paternity were jailed on homicide charges; DNA later showed he was not the younger boy's biological father. As of September 2, 65 minors were housed in 20 Greek hospitals, data from the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family showed. 'We hold celebrations … but these are half-measures, not a solution,' said Argyri Sotiropoulou of Agia Sofia's services.