Sophia Michaels
On Friday, the United Nations announced that 289 children lost their lives during the initial half of 2023 while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards Europe.
According to UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency, this number is twice as high as the casualties reported during the same period in 2022. UNICEF emphasized the urgent need for increased safe, legal, and accessible avenues for children to seek refuge in Europe.
Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s global lead on migration and displacement, said the true figures were likely to be higher as many shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean leave no survivors or go unrecorded.
“The number of children who have lost their lives while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe has doubled in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year,” she said.
“In the first six months of this year, we estimate 11,600 children made the crossing — again, nearly twice as many as in the same period in 2022.”
UNICEF said that in the first three months of 2023, around 3,300 children — 71 per cent of all children arriving in Europe on the central Mediterranean route — were recorded as unaccompanied or separated.
The figure is three times higher than in the same period last year.
“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 the resolute pursuit of effective solutions,” said Knaus.
