Dangerous sea route to Europe kills many migrant children

UNICEF estimates that since 2018, around 1,500 children have died or gone missing at sea every week along the Mediterranean crossing route to Europe.

A migrant child at Skala Sikaminias, on the island of Lesvos, Greece, on March 1, 2020. (Source: Xinhua)

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), this year, about 11 children have died or gone missing at sea each week while trying to cross the central Mediterranean route to Europe.

UNICEF estimates that since 2018, this perilous journey has left around 1,500 children dead or missing. Notably, this statistic does not include cases where boats are lost at sea without survivors or trace, meaning the actual number could be much higher.

“In their search for safety, to reunite with their families and to seek a more hopeful future, too many children are taking boats across the Mediterranean and ending up dead or missing,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, in a statement.

Italy is the main European destination for migrants seeking asylum in Europe, and the numbers are rising, UNICEF says.

This year alone, some 11,600 migrant children, many of them unaccompanied, have arrived on Italy's shores, about twice as many as in the first half of 2022.

More than 73,000 migrants arrived by sea in the first 12 days of July, compared with just over 31,000 in the same period last year and more than the total number of arrivals in Italy in all of 2021, when numbers fell due to concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data from the Italian Interior Ministry.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/unicef-tuyen-duong-bien-nguy-hiem-den-chau-au-khien-nhieu-tre-em-di-cu-thiet-mang-234869.html