Sharp rise of unaccompanied minors reaching Italy by sea: IOM
Xinhua, June 8, 2016 Adjust font size:
Over 7,000 unaccompanied children reached Italy by sea through May this year, up from 3,085 between January and May 2015, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.
Representing a 129 percent increase, IOM indicated that minors are increasingly migrating alone, with the main nationalities hailing from Egypt, Gambia, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
This trend is particularly concerning given the vulnerability of children who travel alone, as they are often prone to both sexual and labor exploitation.
"We have actually seen a significant decrease in the number of accompanied minors arriving this year and a very concerning increase in the number of unaccompanied minors..." director of IOM's Coordination Office for the Mediterranean, Federico Soda, explained in a statement.
Latest IOM figures show that 206,400 maritime migrants and refugees have reached Europe so far this year. Some 156,782 have entered Greece, while 48,527 have reached Italian shores.
Another 1,063 migrants have been registered in Spain, while 28 have landed in Cyprus.
Some 2,809 migrants have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean this year, according to IOM. Enditem