IOM, UNICEF and UNHCR are working to improve the protection of underage migrants and refugees in Libya through policies to support children at risk in the North African country.
UN agencies IOM (International Organization for Migration), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) have said that they are increasing their efforts to protect migrant and refugee children in Libya.
In March 2018, IOM identified some 29,370 unaccompanied underage migrants in Libya. That number, however, could effectively be much higher, the agencies said in a joint statement.
The case of Sofiya
IOM, UNICEF and UNHCR have set up safeguards to implement coherent policies designed to protect unaccompanied underage migrants and refugees who have been separated from their families in Libya.
Measures include a panel to determine the best interest of the child (BID) that will be summoned in complex situations in order to enable experts for the protection of minors to discuss specific cases.The first BID panel held in Tripoli on March 29 saw IOM, UNICEF and UNHCR experts discuss the case of Sofiya, a seven-year-old girl from western Africa whose name was changed to protect her identity.
IOM said in a statement that the minor had left home with her mother and that the pair had boarded a boat to cross the Mediterranean Sea but never made it to Italy. Sofiya lost her mother at sea and was taken back to Libya by the coast guard. She was then transferred to a detention center, where she was identified by IOM officials as an unaccompanied minor.
The BID panel recommended to find the girl's father, and within a few weeks, she travelled back to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, to live with him.
Encouraging further cooperation
Othman Belbeisi, IOM chief of mission in Libya, said unaccompanied minors who have been separated from family members are ''at high risk'' of being exploited by traffickers, of being detained, forced into labor and sexually exploited.
''Improving our assistance and protection of children in movement is fundamental for us as humanitarian operators. We welcome and encourage further cooperation among all affected parties to guarantee the best protection possible for the highest number of children in Libya'', he said.
Barbara Pellegrini, a child protection officer at IOM, added that, ''when we are working with unaccompanied and separated minors, it is of fundamental importance to ensure that their best interest is the guiding principle of all actions that are undertaken, both for temporary and long-lasting solutions''.