There is a “nation” of migrant children in the world. As large as Spain
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
There are 48 million migrant, refugee or displaced children across the world. The figures are highlighted in a Unicef report.
There is a “nation” of migrant children in the world. As large as Spain
There are 48 million migrant, refugee or displaced children across the world. The figures are highlighted in a Unicef report.
Almost fifty million children, today, across the world, are living far from their homelands. Abandoned because of hunger, wars, poverty, forced displacement, persecution. Or owing to the effects of climate change, which has rendered some regions uninhabitable.
The reality of what is now a great nation on the move (more populous than a country like Spain) is captured in a Unicef report entitled "Uprooted". The document was published on the eve of the International Literacy Day (adopted by Unesco in 1975, celebrated on 8 September).
"The world is not doing enough for migrant children"
"The situation is increasingly worrying – declared Ted Chaiban, director of Unicef programmes, speaking to the French daily Le Monde – when one considers that 31 million migrant children, equivalent to one in seventy in the world, have been forced to leave their countries of origin. A further seventeen million have moved to other regions of their own country to escape violence and war."
Read also: 18 December is World Migrants Day
Among the minors who have fled, eleven million are currently refugees or asylum seekers. "These are children uprooted from their origins, often alone. And the international community is not doing enough for them. We must support them to prevent them from suffering violence and exploitation. We need to establish humanitarian corridors, also to help them reunite, where possible, with members of their families," Chaiban added. Ensuring they also have access to basic necessities such as education.
One in two refugees worldwide is a minor
In recent years the problem has taken on alarming proportions. Suffice it to say that under-18s account for half of all refugees worldwide, and 13 per cent of the total migrant population. Over the past ten years, moreover, the number of children taken in under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Unhcr) has doubled, largely owing to the war in Syria. In 2015 alone, more than 100,000 unaccompanied children sought asylum in 78 countries: three times the figure for the previous year.
The highest number of children forced to wander the world (39 per cent) is found in Asia. And in many cases, it is the effects of climate change that compel them to make these journeys. A factor that is increasingly affecting Africa too, owing to growing problems in the supply of water and food.