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28 mln children displaced internally or across borders: UN official

Xinhua, December 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Thursday said recent estimates place the number of children displaced globally by conflict and violence, internally or across borders, at 28 million.

"Every day, tens of thousands of children around the world are uprooted from their homes as a result of conflict, insecurity and persecution. They are paying the price for a global lack of political will to prevent, mitigate and resolve conflict," he noted.

The UN official made the remarks during an opening speech here to the High Commissioner's dialogue on protection challenges which kicked off on Thursday and will end Friday.

"Children represent a disproportionate and growing proportion of the world's refugees. A total of 51 percent are children, compared to one third of the world's population overall, and they also represent a significant proportion of those moving in broader mixed migratory movements," Grandi said.

He added that the number of unaccompanied and separated children on the move is particularly worrying, with an increasing number are leaving their own countries or moving on from others in their regions, without the protection of their families and communities.

UN figures showed that in 2015, 112,000 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in 83 countries, more than triple the number in 2014.

In Italy this year, 24,000 unaccompanied children have so far arrived by sea, almost double the number last year.

Calling for urgent actions to ensure that children on the move are protected and their potential restored, Grandi said "if we do not act together to find solutions for today's refugees and other displaced populations, we will have failed this generation of children, and those to come."

"Children, regardless of their status, their circumstances and the reasons why they are on the move, should first and foremost be treated as children, with an approach based on care, and not enforcement," he stressed. Endit