At least 289 children have died or disappeared attempting the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing from North Africa to Europe so far this year, according to UNICEF.
This equates to nearly 11 children dying or disappearing every week, it said – urging governments to better protect vulnerable children by creating safe and legal pathways for them to migrate and seek asylum.
The UN’s children’s charity estimates around 1,500 children have died or gone missing while attempting the crossing since 2018.
However, it said the figure is likely higher as many shipwrecks go unrecorded.
Last month, dozens of people died and hundreds were unaccounted for after an overcrowded fishing boat carrying around 750 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, 45 miles off the coast of Greece.
Among the missing were large numbers of women and children.
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UNICEF estimates 11,600 children so far this year have made the dangerous crossing to Italy from North Africa. This is a two-fold increase compared to the same period in 2022.
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In the first three months of 2023, 3,300 children were recorded as unaccompanied or separated from parents or legal guardians.
The majority set sail from Libya and Tunisia, having left countries across Africa and the Middle East.
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Ibrahim Kondeh left his home in Sierra Leone to make money for his mother after his father died.
He was 17 when he arrived in Calabria, Italy, in 2017 after a year-long journey that took him through Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Algeria and Libya – before risking his life to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a small boat with dozens of others despite knowing the dangers.
“Everyone was just praying. Some were Christians, some were Muslims. When Christians called we all answered together, when Muslims called we all answered together, because we know it was only God’s grace that could see us through that great mysterious sea,” he said.
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The boat capsized – but he survived, and went on to write a diary about his journey and has since become an ambassador for U-Report on the Move, a UNICEF digital platform which gives migrant and refugee children the opportunity to connect with each other and share their views.
Having lost years of his education, he is now back at school and hopes to go to university and “help people out, just how I’ve been helped”.
“People don’t move only because of wars in their country. It’s normally not something that we really wanted to do, but in most cases it’s the only option we had,” he said.
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UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said: “In attempts to find safety, reunite with family, and seek more hopeful futures too many children are boarding boats on the shores of the Mediterranean, only to lose their lives or go missing on the way.
“This is a clear sign that more must be done to create safe and legal pathways for children to access asylum, while strengthening efforts to rescue lives at sea.
“Ultimately, much more must be done to address the root causes that make children risk their lives in the first place.”
