Refugee children are facing Christmas alone and in danger
Kitty Arie, Director of Policy for Save the Children, responds to today's parliamentary debateon refugee children and calls for the Government to prevent the abuse andexploitationof vulnerable migrant children who have arrived in Europe alone.
We wholeheartedly welcome Tim Farron’s call to the Prime Minister to consider whether Britain can do more to fulfil its moral responsibilities to protect vulnerable children who have arrived alone in Europe. It is important that we continue to challenge the notion that reaching Europe means reaching safety. We know too well that this is not the case for thousands of these vulnerable children.
Save the Children is working along the routes that children take through Europe and seeing that overwhelmed and inadequate systems of reception are exposing children to further risks such as trafficking, exploitation and abuse. Many unaccompanied children are sleeping rough. According to the Italian Ministry of Labour and Welfare, of the 13,000 unaccompanied children who made the journey in 2014, almost 4,000 simply vanished after arriving.
I have just returned from visiting the Save the Children response in Lesbos, where people continue to arrive in their thousands , despite the treacherous conditions. Some children have told our staff horrifying stories of the abuse, exploitation, and physical and sexual violence they have experienced during the journey. Some of these children have lost family members in their countries of origin or on the journey. There are foster families ready and willing to provide these children with a home, we now need now is for the UK Government to act.
All efforts should be made to ensure children remain with or are reunited with their families. However, for some unaccompanied children, reunification with parents or their primary caregivers might not be possible.
These children are facing Christmas alone, with few safe places to stay and no one to protect them. The UK should offer these children a second chance at safety this Christmas.
