“Torture and slavery” of refugee children on their way to Europe
Many children fleeing the Central Mediterranean route to Europe face the nightmare of torture, rape and slavery, prompting UNICEF to call for a “safe and legal” route to the European Union.
Refugees and migrants prove every day that they are willing to take any risk to reach Europe. But Sandy Blanchet, director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Brussels, emphasizes that during this journey, children and adolescents are at risk of exploitation, abuse and slavery.
UNICEF, together with the International Organization for Migration, interviewed a total of 11,000 children and adolescents for its new report. “The picture these children present is horrifying. No child should have to go through this,” says Blanchet. “The children use terms like torture, being shot, being killed, being raped, being enslaved in their descriptions,” she continues.
Double danger in the absence of a guardian
Speaking to the Brussels office of German public broadcaster ARD, Sandi Blanchet stressed that the risk for children who travel to Europe unaccompanied or unaccompanied is double. She said it is not uncommon for teenagers to set off on this risky journey with little money, intending to work in Libya to pay for their onward journey to Europe.
The head of the UN Children's Fund in Brussels speaks of his conversations with two brothers who, along with 200 other Africans, worked full-time on a farm for about two months. Blanche says they were beaten, threatened and locked up at night so they could not escape.
Eight in 10 children have reported being exploited and abused on the Central Mediterranean route, from Libya to Italy, according to new research published in Shocking Journeys.
Departure from despair
The head of UNICEF speaks of a “very high number” of such cases. The UN children’s fund wants to draw the attention of the European Union to this tragedy with its new study. According to Blanchet, one of the purposes of such a study is to make Europe more attentive to the growing number of children suffering from nightmares.
Furthermore, the UNICEF official said that while the organization recognizes the arguments of the opposition, it believes that Europe should open up more legal and safe routes to enter its continent. Critics of this view believe that “legal routes” will make Europe more attractive to refugees and migrants, leading to more migration.
But according to Sandy Blanche, in the era of modern media, children are well aware of the dangers of the road: "They start out of despair, and we don't end their despair by closing borders."
The UNICEF director has finally warned that Europe should not return children and adolescents to Libya or any other country that threatens their security.
Source: DW
