17th November, 2015
Children make up an increasing number of people claiming asylum in Europe, according to data from UNICEF.
Against the backdrop of 700 people a day seeking asylum in Europe, UNICEF says the number of women and children have steadily increased since the European summer with as many as 214,000 seeking asylum in the European Union between January and September this year – an unprecedented figure.
Figures show that while in June, just one in 10 of the refugees and migrants who registered crossing the border between Greece and Macedonia at Gevgeilja, by October, women and children accounted for one in three. Meanwhile, in Sweden alone, the number of unaccompanied children claiming asylum – 24,000 so far this year – equates to last year’s total for the whole of Europe.
UNICEF have highlighted five groups of particularly vulnerable children among migrants and refugees in Europe in the lead-up to winter including babies and small children, children with disabilities and special needs, children separated from families and caregivers, children who are left behind because they can’t pay traffickers or criminal gangs, and unaccompanied adolescents – mostly boys aged between 14 and 17 from Afghanistan.
UNICEF says that while it and other organisations including the Red Cross and UNHCR are already taking targeted action to help such children, further work needs to be done.
– DAVID ADAMS
