By Haruna Gimba
A report released by the UNICEF in New York has indicated that nearly 50 million children have been driven out of their homes by conflicts and violence worldwide.
The report said 28 million of them driven from their homes by conflicts not of their making, and millions more migrating in the hope of finding a better, safer life.
“Often traumatized by the conflicts and violence they are fleeing, they face further dangers along the way, including the risk of drowning on sea crossings, malnourishment and dehydration, trafficking, kidnapping, rape and even murder.
“In countries they travel through and at their destinations, they often face xenophobia and discrimination,” the report stated.
The UNICEF report found that a total of 50 million children are either refugees, internally displaced inside their countries or migrants in search of a better life abroad due to gang violence and poverty.
UNICEF urges countries in the report to look at underage refugees and migrants as children “first and foremost,” who are especially vulnerble to violence and exploitation
It noted that children made up about half of the world’s refugees seeking shelter abroad in 2015, with 45 per cent of child refugees under the UN’s care coming from Syria and Afghanistan.
The number of children travelling alone rose to 100,000 in 2015, a three-fold increase from 2014.
“These unaccompanied minors, who are in heightened risk of abuse and exploitation, applied for asylum in 78 countries in 2015.
“About 20 million of them have been classified as child migrants who left their homes because of poverty and gang violence, often traveling without legal documents and lacking legal status,’’ it said.
UNICEF’s Executive Director, Anthony Lake, said the indelible images of individual children, Aylan Kurdi’s small body washed up on a beach after drowning at sea or Omran Daqneesh’s stunned and bloody face as he sat in an ambulance after his home was destroyed, have shocked the world.
“What price will we all pay if we fail to provide these young people with opportunities for education and a more normal childhood. How will they be able to contribute positively to their societies?
“If they can’t, not only will their futures be blighted, but their societies will be diminished as well,” Lake said.
He added that the report is coming ahead of a UN summit on September 19 where world leaders are set to discuss global migration.
