{"id":92886,"date":"2017-05-29T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=92886"},"modified":"2017-05-24T12:14:16","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T11:14:16","slug":"a-grisly-tale-of-children-falling-easy-prey-to-ruthless-smugglers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/05\/a-grisly-tale-of-children-falling-easy-prey-to-ruthless-smugglers\/","title":{"rendered":"A Grisly Tale of Children Falling Easy Prey to Ruthless Smugglers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, three children look out of the window of a train, which was boarded by refugees primarily from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, at a reception centre for refugees and migrants, in Gevgelija. Credit: UNICEF\/Ashley Gilbertson VII<\/p><\/div>\n

22 May 2017<\/em> – Don\u2019t read this story if you are a parent or have children relatives. It is the bloodcurdling story of over 300,000 unaccompanied refugee and migrant children who are just a small part of millions of children that are innocent, easy prey for smugglers and human traffickers worldwide.<\/p>\n

Among a raft of alarming statistics, a new UN report has just found that children account for around 28 per cent of trafficking victims globally. And that Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America and the Caribbean have the highest share of children among detected trafficking victims, at the rates of 64 and 62 per cent, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a child, not a criminal, not a threat, not an outcast\u201d \u2013 UNICEF<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The new report, issued by the UN Children Fund<\/a> (UNICEF<\/a>), also informs that the number of children travelling alone has increased five\u2013fold since 2010, warning that many young refugees and migrants<\/a> are taking highly dangerous routes, often at the mercy of traffickers, to reach their destinations.<\/p>\n

At least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children were recorded in some 80 countries in the combined years of 2015 and 2016, up from 66,000 in 2010 and 2011, according to the report A Child is a Child: Protecting children on the move from violence, abuse and exploitation<\/a>, which was released on May 18, and presents a global snapshot of refugee and migrant children, the motivations behind their journeys and the risks they face along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne child moving alone is one too many, and yet today, there are a staggering number of children doing just that \u2013 we as adults are failing to protect them<\/a>,\u201d commented UNICEF deputy executive director Justin Forsyth. \u201cRuthless smugglers and traffickers are exploiting their vulnerability for personal gain, helping children to cross borders, only to sell them into slavery and forced prostitution. It is unconscionable that we are not adequately defending children from these predators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A migrant gestures from behind the bars of a cell at a detention centre in Libya, Tuesday 31 January. Credit: UNICEF\/Romenzi<\/p><\/div>\n

First and foremost, children need protection, the UN agency reminded, while highlighting the importance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child<\/a>, through which State Parties commit to respect and ensure the rights of \u201ceach child within their jurisdiction, without discrimination of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of World\u2019s Deadliest Routes for Children<\/strong><\/p>\n

Few weeks earlier, a senior UNICEF<\/a> official called the routes from sub-Saharan Africa into Libya and across the sea to Europe one of the \u201cworld\u2019s deadliest and most dangerous for children and women,\u201d as the UN agency informed that nearly half of the women and children interviewed after making the voyage were raped.<\/p>\n

On this, its report A Deadly Journey for Children: The Central Mediterranean Migrant Route<\/a>, warned<\/a> that \u201crefugee and migrant children and women are routinely suffering sexual violence, exploitation, abuse and detention along the Central Mediterranean migration route from North Africa to Italy,\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time of the report, which was issued end of February, 256,000 migrants were recorded in Libya, including about 54,000 included women and children. \u201cThis is a low count with actual numbers at least three times higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN agency believes that at least 181,000 people \u2013including more than 25,800 unaccompanied children \u2013used smugglers in 2016 to try to reach Italy. \u201cAt the most dangerous portion\u2013 from southern Libya to Sicily \u2013 one in every 40 people is killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raped, Exploited, Left in Debt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here, Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe, said<\/a> that the Central Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe is among the world\u2019s deadliest and most dangerous migrant routes for children and women. \u201cThe route is mostly controlled by smugglers, traffickers and other people seeking to prey upon desperate children and women who are simply seeking refuge or a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

An abandoned farmhouse with a mattress used by prostitutes in Palermo. \u201cI missed ever being a child,\u201d says [NAME CHANGED] Mary, who was helped by a lawyer after she was trafficked to Italy, aged 17.
Credit: \u00a9 UNICEF\/UN062791\/Gilbertson VII Photo<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cNearly half the women and children interviewed had experienced sexual abuse during migration \u2013 often multiple times and in multiple locations,\u201d with \u201cwidespread and systematic\u201d sexual violence at crossings and checkpoints.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, about three-quarters of all the children interviewed said that they had \u201cexperienced violence, harassment or aggression at the hands of adults\u201d including beatings, verbal and emotional abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Western Libya, women were often held in detention centres were they reported \u201charsh conditions, such as poor nutrition and sanitation, significant overcrowding and a lack of access to health care and legal assistance,\u201d the UN Children Fund informed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What the Most Powerful Should \u2013 and Can Do <\/strong><\/p>\n

Included in the report is a six-point agenda calling for \u201csafe and legal pathways and safeguards to protect migrating children.\u201d UNICEF urged the European Union to adopt this agenda ahead of the Summit of the G7 (the group of the 7 most powerful countries) in Taormina, Italy, on 26-27 May.<\/p>\n

The six-point agenda stresses the need to protect child refugees and migrants, particularly unaccompanied children, from exploitation and violence; to end the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating by introducing a range of practical alternatives, and to keep families together as the best way to protect children and give children legal status.<\/p>\n

It recommends, as well, to keep all refugee and migrant children learning and give them access to health and other quality services; to press for action on the underlying causes of large scale movements of refugees and migrants; and to promote measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and marginalization in countries of transit and destination.<\/p>\n

Such commitments would obviously be easy to take and implement by the G7 governments. The point is: will the political leaders of the world\u2019s richest countries consider, seriously, this inhuman tragedy?<\/p>\n

Are they aware that the number of children left alone has been soaring? UNICEF \u2013which they created to assist millions of European refugee children, victims of their Wold War II\u2013 has just reported that 92 per cent of children who arrived to Italy by sea in 2016 were unaccompanied, up from 75 per cent in 2015.<\/p>\n

Do these mandatories know that 75 per cent of children who arrived in Italy\u2014the very same country hosting their Summit\u2014have reported experiences such as being held against their will or being forced to work without pay?<\/p>\n

Let alone the case of hundreds of children who are abducted to sell their organs, to be recruited by terrorist organisations as child soldiers, or are exploited in harsh \u201cmodern\u201d slavery work.<\/p>\n

Will these political leaders mostly talk big finance and big business\u2013including the 20 May US-Saudi Arabia weapons deal amounting to 110 billion dollars? Who knows\u2026they might also have some spare time to read US president Donald Trump\u2019s latest tweets.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Baher Kamal, Egyptian-born, Spanish national secular journalist. He is founder and publisher of\u00a0<\/em>Human Wrongs Watch<\/a>. Kamal is a pro-peace, non-violence, human rights, harmonious coexistence defender among human beings and with Nature, with more than 43 years of professional experience. With these issues in sight, he covered practically all professional posts, from correspondent to chief editor of dailies and international news agencies.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ipsnews.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

22 May 2017 – Among a raft of alarming statistics, a new UN report has just found that children account for around 28 per cent of trafficking victims globally. And that Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America and the Caribbean have the highest share of children among detected trafficking victims, at the rates of 64 and 62 per cent, respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-focus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}