UNICEF has signaled alarm at the rise in the number of migrant children being expelled to Niger after a tightening of borders in Europe and North Africa. Minors risk becoming victims of trafficking, violence, abuse, exploitation and detention, the organization said.
While European and North African countries are trying to curb illegal migration, more migrant children are being expelled to Niger, UNICEF has warned. The organization said that since November last year over 8,000 people from western Africa, including 2,000 children, were expelled from Algeria to Niger. An additional 900 asylum seekers and registered refugees from eastern African countries were transferred from Libya to Niger while their applications were being examined. Meanwhile, migration flows towards Niger are continuing.
Insufficient protection mechanisms
The UN agency warned that trans-border mechanisms are insufficient to protect these children from a variety of risks: Trafficking, violence, abuse, exploitation and detention.
In the month of April alone, a 14 percent increase was registered in the number of people in transit through Niger compared to the previous month. There were nearly 500 registered per day, one-third of whom were children, and according to UNICEF, "the majority were exhausted, had suffered violence or had been left without support or adequate protection." The exact number of children is likely to be higher, as many are not registered or hide.
"Niger needs help to support the growing number of refugee and migrant children who arrive or are repatriated through its borders," said Red Chaiban, UNICEF's director of programs. "The solutions must include better trans-border cooperation between governments to keep children safe, as well as more investment to help countries like Niger strengthen support systems available to all children in the country, regardless of who they are or where they come from."
UNICEF asks for solutions with Global Compact
With ongoing government talks on the Global Compact on Migration, UNICEF is asking for solutions to guarantee the security of children. These include "strengthening trans-border cooperation between countries to better protect children in migrations, implementing policies to manage borders that take into account their vulnerability and providing access to essential services like lodgings, protection, education and training."
Children who are currently stranded in Niger "need not only urgent help to stay safe but also long-term assistance," said Chaiban. "They need better access to information to make informed choices and support for repatriation, if possible, or to a third country. States must offer a place to resettle to those for whom returning home is not an option. Children who are stranded in Niger are looking at all of us to find sustainable solutions." (Image: A transit center for migrants who are being sent home from Algeria in Agadez, Niger, on May 10 2018. Credit: UNICEF/UN0209663/Gilbertson VII Photo).