Tech & Rights

Vast Majority of Young Refugees Are Alone, Says UNICEF

Nearly all of the refugee children traveling to Europe from Africa are doing so alone, says UN children's program UNICEF. Unaccompanied children account for roughly 92 percent of the some 7,500 children who have...

by LibertiesEU
(European Commission)

Nearly all of the refugee children traveling to Europe from Africa are doing so alone, says UN children's program UNICEF. Unaccompanied children account for roughly 92 percent of the some 7,500 children who have attempted the crossing this year. Many of these children fall prey to smugglers who force them to work before they can travel, while others are victims of sexual exploitation. "If you try to run they shoot you and you die. If you stop working, they beat you. It was just like the slave trade," said a 16-year-old from The Gambia who was forced to work on a farm in Libya.

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