At least two children drown on average every day while trying to cross the central Mediterranean due to the "absence of safe and legal routes," the U.N. Children's Agency, UNICEF, said Friday.
The number of children that have lost their lives while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe has doubled compared to last year, Verena Knaus, the UNICEF’s global chief on migration and displacement, told a U.N. press briefing in Geneva.
These numbers, she said, are driven by conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, West Africa, and even as far away as Afghanistan.
In the first six months of 2023 alone, 289 children have died, Knaus said, equivalent to around 11 children dying every week. In the same period, the total number of children recorded that have tried to cross is around 11,600, she added.
"They are literally drowning in the inaction of governments around the shores," she said.
"Children are dying because there is an absence of safe and legal routes. Children are dying because there are no robust search and rescue capacities deployed to prevent such deaths. And children are dying because they're so desperate in their countries and unable to seek protection in countries they cross."
"These deaths are absolutely preventable," she added.
Regarding the figure of the children who take these perilous journeys alone, Knaus said that their numbers tripled compared to last year as nearly 3,000 children made the crossing alone – 71% of all children making the crossing.
"These children need to know they are not alone. World leaders must urgently act to demonstrate the undeniable worth of children's lives, moving beyond condolences to resolute pursuit of effective solutions," said Knaus.
