‘11 children die every week attempting to cross Mediterranean’

So far in 2023, an estimated 11,600 children made the dangerous crossing. The majority were alone or separated from their parents, it says in the statements.

Mostly, the vast majority of migrants arriving in Italy, and even Spain, hail from West Africa.

The UN agency responsible for children’s welfare says that at least “289 children are estimated to have died or disappeared” so far in 2023 while trying to reach Italian shores via the deathly Central Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Europe.

Since 2018, the UN agency estimates that around 1,500 children have died or gone missing while embarking on this route. This number accounts for 1 in 5 of the 8,274 people who have died or gone missing on the route, according to IOM’s Missing Migrant Project records.

The statement adds: “Many shipwrecks on the Central Mediterranean Sea crossing leave no survivors or go unrecorded, making the true number of child casualties practically impossible to verify and likely much higher.

“In recent months, children and babies have been among those who have lost their lives on this route, on other routes across the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic route from West Africa, including the recent tragedies off the coasts of Greece and Spain’s Canary Islands.”

“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,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell is quoted as saying in the release.

He held that this is a sign that more needs to 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.”

“UNICEF estimates 11,600 children – an average of 428 children a week – arrived on the shores of Italy from North Africa since January 2023. This is a two-fold increase compared to the same period in 2022, despite the grave risks involved for children,” the UN body administering children's affairs says in the statement, adding that the majority departed from Libya and Tunisia and some had already made dangerous journeys from countries across Africa and the Middle East.

It adds: “In the first three months of 2023, 3,300 children – 71 percent of all children arriving to Europe via this route - were recorded as unaccompanied or separated from parents or legal guardians, putting them at a greater risk of violence, exploitation and abuse. Girls traveling alone are especially likely to experience violence before, during and after their journeys.

“The Central Mediterranean Sea has become one of the most dangerous routes traveled by children. However, the risk of death at sea is just one of many tragedies these children face – from threats or experiences of violence, lack of educational or future opportunities, raids and immigration detention or separation from family.

It furthers that these risks are further compounded by limited pathways for children to move safely, lack of access to protection in countries along the way and insufficient and slow search and rescue operations.