UNICEF has said that it has taken care of 600 vulnerable migrants, mainly minors and women, out of the over 30,000 people who landed in Italy in 2024. Meanwhile, the UN Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that over 900 people have been reported dead or missing while crossing the Central Mediterranean to reach Italy.
Between 2023 and today, in one year of activity, UNICEF has reached some 600 people, alongside prefectures, to identify and manage specific vulnerable cases among migrants. In particular, the organization aided 453 unaccompanied girls, 50 women and 90 families, UNICEF said on Tuesday (July 30).
The UN agency reported that "in 2024, 30,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy -- 6.5 percent are women, 20 percent girls, many of them without adults helping them as they try to reach Europe in search of security and more dignified living conditions."
Also read: UNICEF supported over 37,000 young migrants in Italy in 2023
'People with specific vulnerabilities'
Many of those aided had "specific vulnerabilities", often due to exploitation, violence and abuse they had endured in their country of origin, transit or arrival in Italy, UNICEF said.
In other cases, the journey was driven by the hope to cure a serious health condition and the lack of access to safe and legal pathways.
"The results obtained this year show that the key to win the challenges of the pathways for protection and hosting on the territory is a fast and integrated approach together with a synergy with child welfare services on the territory," said Nicola Dell'Arciprete, coordinator of UNICEF's response in Italy.
"Experience has moreover shown that the prompt activation of social and health services has repeatedly aided the solution of cases, also avoiding the risk of these people leaving the formal hosting system. Organizing this type of intervention can guarantee more protection to more vulnerable people and enable the management of migration that respects rights," added Dell'Arciprete.
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The deadly Central Mediterranean route
An estimated 408 people have died and 512 have been reported missing in the Central Mediterranean route between the beginning of 2024 and July 27, according to the most recent figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya published on X.
The agency added that, over the same period of time, the migrants intercepted at sea and taken back to Libya were 11,651, including 10,300 men, 830 women, 385 minors and 136 people of unknown gender.
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