Underage migrants who are traveling alone or have been separated from their parents often prefer to lie about their age and trus traffickers because counting on the hosting country is often not convenient, according to the research 'On My Own' carried out by experts from the Mixed Migration Platform.
The platform is a network of NGOs, including Intersos, and their research was carried out in Jordan, Lebanon and Greece. Luigi Achilli, the author of the research, told ANSA that children and adolescents forced to embark in such a risky trip on their own are often aged ''15 to 17, mainly boys fleeing war and the draft imposed by Assad'' while ''girls flee because they fear the violence they could endure''. ''We were able to interview the minors directly'', stressed Achilli. This method, added Monica Matarazzo, responsible of Protection Intersos, ''enabled us to work on specific programs to help them''.
Overall, 66 minors were interviewed, mostly from Syria - just a few of the minors arriving in Jordan, Lebanon and Greece. They endured ''violence, abuse, labor and sexual exploitation, the absence of documentation, arrests and detention, discrimination, difficulty in accessing services, few centers that protect the youngest''. Achilli added that they are also ''treated like adults,'' which is easier for hosting centers.
A difficult life also in Greece, an EU country
Unaccompanied minors also have a difficult life in Greece, a European Union member. Most of them are Afghan, Kurdish Iraqi and Pakistani migrants. Alba Cauchi, who is in charge of Intersos' program in Greece denounced the lack of protected centers for children, who are ''often placed in detention centers''. For this reason, she said that many ''prefer to lie about their age, because once it has been certified and established they are sent to centers where it is more difficult to leave''.
(The photo shows refugee children from the Intersos Facebook page)