Unaccompanied children heading to Italy via Libya are at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation, said a UN official. More than 90 percent of the children arrived alone this year, UNICEF said.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A.Di Vincenzo
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The UN Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday reported a significant increase in unaccompanied minors traveling from Libya to Italy via the "Central Mediterranean route" in 2016, more than double last year's figures for the same period.
"More than 9 out of 10 refugee and migrant children arriving in Europe this year through Italy are unaccompanied," the UN body said in a statement.
Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF's special coordinator for migrants and refugees in Europe, said "tens of thousands" of children faced danger without established protection systems in the country's they depart from, transit through and arrive in.
"We urgently need to protect these children from all types of abuse and exploitation by those taking advantage of the situation to exploit their dreams," Poirier said.
Italian social workers told UNICEF that both girls and boys "were sexually assaulted and forced into prostitution while in Libya, and that some of the girls were pregnant when they arrived in Italy, having been raped."
The long trip to Europe from the refugees' perspective
A boy who is soaking wet, volunteers entertaining children, moments of danger and of joy: #RefugeeCameras shows images taken during the journey to Europe. It is the subject of a new exhibition in Hamburg.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
Leaving home - for good?
Zakaria received his camera on December 8 in Izmir, Turkey - one of the key hubs for refugees. The Syrian fled from the "Islamic State" terror militia and the government, according to McElvaney's #RefugeeCamera project. Out of safety concerns, Zakaria doesn't name his hometown. In his flight diary, Zakaria writes that only God knows if he will ever be able to return to Syria.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
Rough dinghy ride
Zakaria documented his sea journey from Turkey to Chios. He was sitting in the back of his dinghy. At the Hamburg exhibition, which opens this weekend, the refugees' images will be complemented by a selection of shots taken by professionals, who helped to shape the representation of escape routes in the media. They all donated their works in order to support the project.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
Perilous arrival
Hamza and Abdulmonem, both from Syria, photographed the perilous landing of their dinghy on a Greek island. There were no volunteers to offer them support. That is exactly what McElvaney had in mind when he launched #RefugeeCameras. So far, he says, the media have offered a "visual blank" in this respect.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
Surviving the sea
After the landing, a young boy in wet clothes and life jacket stands on the pebbled beach. The image brings to mind Aylan Kurdi, the small Syrian boy whose lifeless body was washed ashore on a Turkish beach in September. The child in this picture made it to Europe alive. What became of him is not known.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
Seven cameras returned
Hamza and Abdulmonem also took this slightly blurred snapshot of the refugee group taking a break. McElvaney handed out 15 disposable cameras in total. Seven of them were returned, one was lost, two were confiscated, two remain in Izmir, where their holders are still stranded. The remaining three cameras are unaccounted for - just like their owners.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
Family in focus
Dyab, a math teacher from Syria, tried to capture some of the better moments of his journey to Germany. Pictured here are his wife and his young son, Kerim, who shows us the packet of biscuits he was given in a Macedonian refugee camp. The images reveal Dyab's deep affection for his son, McElvaney says: "He wants to take care of him, even on this arduous trip which he was forced to take."
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
From Iran to Hanau
The story of Saeed, from Iran, is a different one. The young man had to leave the country after converting to Christianity. He could have been arrested or even killed. In order to be accepted as a refugee, he pretended to be Afghan. After his arrival in Germany, he explained his situation to the authorities' satisfaction. He now lives - as an Iranian - in Hanau, Hesse.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
Beyond selfies
Saeed took this picture of a Syrian father and his child on a bus from Athens to Idomeni.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
More than status
In another snapshot taken by Saeed, a volunteer working in a refugee camp somewhere between Croatia and Slovenia entertains a group of children, who try to imitate his tricks.
Image: Kevin McElvaney/ProjectRefugeeCameras
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Deaths at sea
Nearly 3,000 migrants died while attempting the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of the year, up from 3,770 for the entirety of 2015, UNICEF said.
UNICEF's latest report comes as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lowered their forecast for migrants and refugees using the so-called Balkan route to reach richer EU nations, such as Germany and Sweden.
The UN refugee agency on Monday said it expects 248,000 migrants and refugees to arrive to Europe from Turkey in 2016, significantly lower than its forecast of "up to 1 million," reported Reuters news agency.
Earlier this year, Macedonian authorities effectively closed the Balkan route when they prevented migrants from transiting through the country. The EU's refugee deal with Turkey was also designed to reduce traffic coming from the Aegean Sea crossing.
