Vital education services for thousands of refugee children on the Greek islands will end in June without urgent action from the international community, a new report from Theirworld warns today. 

With the refugee crisis in the islands at breaking point, our research says that vulnerable children who have often fled conflict in Syria or Afghanistan are in danger of being abandoned by donors. 

They also face the additional threat of the coronavirus, which the Greek government has described as a "ticking health bomb" in island refugee camps. 

Funding for existing education programmes will run out when the Greek school year closes at the end of June. But major donors such as the European Union, the UK and Scandinavian countries are nowhere near reaching agreement on an extension. 

Theirworld’s research has concluded that 20 million euros are needed to safely keep open educational programmes operated by UNICEF and UNHCR and local aid groups for another two years.