CoE official calls for more protection of migrant children

European governments must do more to prevent migrant children from falling victim to violence, abuse and trafficking, the Council of Europe's secretary general Thorbjorn Jagland said Wednesday.

Protecting asylum-seeking and refugee children from criminals, ending their detention and improving age assessment procedures are among immediate actions that must be taken, Jagland asserted in a letter to the leaders of all 47 CoE member states.

The CoE says that since September last year an average of two children a day have drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean, while according to Europol at least 10,000 have disappeared since the beginning of the crisis. In many countries, asylum-seeking children disappear within just a few days of being placed in reception centers.

"Providing international protection to children fleeing war, violence and persecution should now be a priority for all European governments," Jagland wrote in the letter.

Last year, an estimated 300,000 children arrived in Europe, many of whom were unaccompanied. One in three of the migrants and asylum seekers crossing between Greece and Turkey is a child, says the CoE.

"The refugee crisis is a trafficker's paradise," Jagland continued. "Thousands of children are escaping war only to vanish into the underbelly of European societies. It is difficult to imagine a greater moral imperative than keeping these boys and girls safe," he said.

In the letter Jagland said it is essential to put in place rapid procedures for appointing legal guardians for unaccompanied children, and provide suitable and safe accommodation where children are placed under the supervision of trained staff or foster parents.

The CoE believes children should not be placed in immigration detention centers, apart from in exceptional circumstances and for the shortest period of time. State authorities should pay special attention to the safety of girls who face multiple risks, the organization says.

Moreover, when the age of the child is uncertain the presumption should be that he or she is a minor and should therefore be given special protection, pending verification.

Jagland's special representative on migration and refugees, Ambassador Tomas Bocek, will shortly be leading fact finding missions to some of the areas which are under most pressure, including Greece and Macedonia. Enditem