Rising deaths of migrant children in Mediterranean sparks concern

Over 340 refugee and migrant children have died crossing the eastern Mediterranean since September 2015, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported Friday.

The UNHCR made the remarks in a joint statement with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organization for migration (IOM).

With an average of two children, many of them babies or toddlers, drowning every day on the sea passage separating Turkey and Greece, agencies warned that the number of child deaths is continuing to rise and that the death toll could be even greater.

"We cannot turn our faces away from the tragedy of so many innocent young lives and futures lost, or fail to address the dangers so many more children are facing," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake was quoted as saying in the statement.

"We may not have the ability now to end the desperation that causes so many people to try to cross the sea, but countries can and must cooperate to make such dangerous journeys safer. No one puts a child in a boat if a safer option if available," he added.

With a total of 411 people losing their lives on the eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of 2016, agencies said that winter's rough seas, overloading and the poor quality of boats and lifesaving equipment are rendering the journey considerably more dangerous.

"Counting lives is not enough. We must act," said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing.

"This is not only a Mediterranean problem, or even a European one. It is a humanitarian catastrophe in the making that demands the entire world's engagement," he added. Enditem