UNICEF boss decries Europe’s child migrant, refugee crisis

The United Nations Children’s Fund has decried the unrelenting deaths of migrant children and their parents as they attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in their bid to enter Europe at all costs.

UNICEF works for children’s rights, survival, development and protection.

In reaction to the image of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian child-migrant whose dead body was washed up a beach in Turkey, the UNICEF Executive Director, Mr. Anthony Lake, said, “Heart-breaking images of children’s bodies washing up on the shores of Europe, lying suffocated in the backs of trucks crossing borders, and being passed over barbed wire fences by desperate parents are unacceptable.

“As the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe deepens, these will not be the last shocking images to ricochet around the world on social media, on our televisions screens and on the front pages of our newspapers.

“But it is not enough for the world to be shocked by these images. Shock must be matched by action; for the plight of these children is neither by their choice nor within their control. They need protection. They have a right to protection.”

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Towards this end, he said, children must be protected through the provision of essential services at all times – including health care, food, emotional support, and education – and adequate shelter for migrants and refugees.

He urged the deployment of adequate numbers of trained child welfare experts to support children and their families.

He also advised continuation of search-and-rescue operations, not only at sea, but also on land, as families move across countries; while he also advised world leaders to make every effort to prevent the abuse and exploitation of migrant and refugee children.

He noted that at least a quarter of those seeking refuge in Europe are children, lamenting that in the first six months of this year, more than 106,000 children have so far claimed asylum in Europe.

He counselled, “And we should never forget what lies behind so many of the stories of families seeking sanctuary in Europe: terrible conflicts such as that in Syria, which already has forced some two million children to flee their country. Only an end to these conflicts can bring an end to the misery of so many.”

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