In accordance with international law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged governments all over the world to provide safe, legal pathways for children to migrate and seek asylum. According to UNICEF, at least 289 kids have perished or died in 2023 while attempting to travel across the Central Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Europe.
The organization’s goal is to safeguard young children in danger in countries of origin, transit, and final destination. Additionally, according to UNICEF estimates, since 2018, roughly 1,500 kids have perished or gone missing while attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean Sea.
Of the 8,274 people who have perished or gone missing along the route, this represents one in five. Additionally, according to UNICEF estimates, since January 2023, 11,600 children, or an average of 428 children per week, have entered Italy from North Africa, a two-fold increase from the same period in 2022. UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell emphasized the need for additional initiatives to establish secure, authorized routes for children to seek asylum and to bolster efforts to save lives at sea.
Most children travel dangerous distances from nations in Africa and the Middle East and arrive in Libya and Tunisia.
3,300 children, or 71% of all children recorded as arriving in Europe via this route in the first three months of 2023, were unaccompanied or separated from their parents or legal guardians, increasing their vulnerability to abuse, exploitation, and violence. Limited safe passageways for children to travel, lack of access to protection in the nations in the way, and insufficient and sluggish search and rescue operations all add to the risks of crossing the Central Mediterranean. In the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is currently being negotiated, UNICEF also requests that the European Union ensure that children receive the best protection possible.
