Nearly 300 children died this year trying to cross Mediterranean Sea: UN

Geneva, Switzerland

Nearly 300 children have died in the six months of 2023 while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe, reported the United Nations children’s agency, on Friday (July 14); the toll being the double when compared to the casualties in the same period last year.

11 children died every week trying to cross Mediterranean

A report by UNICEF shows that at least 289 children have lost their lives while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, which amounts to an average of 11 boys and girls dying each week. The findings were announced by the agency’s Global Lead on Migration and Displacement, Vera Knaus, in Geneva. 

UNICEF has also warned that the actual number of child casualties might be higher since many shipwrecks, particularly in the Central Mediterranean typically have no survivors or go unrecorded. 

The UN agency also estimated that as many as 11,600 children have made the crossing, in the first six months of 2023, which is also close to double in the same period in 2022.

Additionally, the UNICEF official also spoke about how more than 70 per cent of the children who do make it across the dangerous sea journey from North Africa to Europe are alone. 

The UN data shows that during the first three months of this year, 3,300 boys and girls were unaccompanied or separated children. Since 2018, 1,500 children have died or gone missing, said UNICEF. 

“We cannot continue to ignore what is happening – stand by silently when nearly 300 children – an entire plane full of children - are dying in the waters between Europe and Africa in just six months,” said Knaus.

World is ‘willfully’ ignoring ‘preventable deaths’ 

Knaus said that the numbers are “far beyond what we hear in news headlines,” and it appears that the world is “willfully ignoring what is happening” given the silence surrounding many of these preventable deaths.

The Central Mediterranean is said to be among the deadliest migration routes for children. “Children are dying not just in front of our eyes; they are dying while we seem to keep our eyes closed.  Hundreds of girls and boys are drowning in the world’s inaction,” said the UN official. 

UNICEF has also attributed the recent rise in the number of migrants to conflict and climate change. 

“They are as much driven by the complex emergencies, conflicts and climate risks that drive children from their homes as by the lack of political and practical action to do what it takes to enable safe access to asylum and to protect the rights and lives of children wherever they come from and whatever their mode of travel,” said Knaus. 

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.