UNICEF warns of "crisis" as increased children, women seek refuge in Europe

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday said a constant increase in the number of children and women seeking refuge in Europe is resulting in a crisis for children.

"We see a constant increase of the proportion of women and children among the population on the move," UNICEF special coordinator for the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, Marie-Pierre Poirier, told reporters here.

Following a one-week mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in Serbia and in Croatia, Poirier said 20 percent of all refugees and migrants arriving in Europe were now children. Since the beginning of the year, 190,000 children have applied for asylum in Europe at a rate of 700 per day.

"There is no indication that this uninterrupted flow will stop," she noted.

If the sea is too rough and too dangerous between Turkey and Greece during winter, migrants could go by land from Turkey to Bulgaria, said the UNICEF representative.

In an emotional appeal, she called for the protection of these migrant children to be the subject of special attention, especially in the upcoming winter months.

According to Poirier, UNICEF is facing the first unprecedented challenge in Europe since the Second World War. As most of the organization's resources go toward crises in Africa or the Middle East, Europe accounts for only three percent of the entire budget. Endit