The UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, has described as heart-breaking, images of children’s bodies washing up on the shores of Europe … lying suffocated in the backs of trucks crossing borders … being passed over barbed wire fences by desperate parents on the child migrant and refugee crisis in Europe.
Lake, in a statement on Thursday, said that as the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe deepens, the current situation will not be the last “shocking images to ricochet around the world on social media, on our televisions screens and on the front pages of our newspapers.
He however stressed that it is not enough for the world to be shocked by these images, stressing that shock must be matched by action. “For the plight of these children is neither by their choice nor within their control. They need protection. They have a right to protection.”
Lake said that UNICEF demands the need to protect these children through the provision of essential services at all times – including health care, food, emotional support, and education – and adequate shelter for migrants and refugees that keeps families together.
It also seek the deployment of adequate numbers of trained child welfare experts to support children and their families, while the search and rescue operations, not only at sea, but also on land must be continued, as families move across countries and make every effort to prevent the abuse and exploitation of migrant and refugee children.
It further seeks to put the best interests of children first in all decisions made regarding these children – including in asylum cases.
“Our hearts go out today to the families who have lost children – off the coasts, on the shores, and along the roadsides of Europe. As the debates on policies proceed, we must never lose sight of the deeply human nature of this crisis.
“Nor of the children. Nor of its scale. At least a quarter of those seeking refuge in Europe are children – in the first six months of this year, more than 106,000 children claimed asylum in Europe.
“And we should never forget what lies behind so many of the stories of families seeking sanctuary in Europe: terrible conflicts such as that in Syria, which already has forced some two million children to flee their country. Only an end to these conflicts can bring an end to the misery of so many,” he said.
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