They are sexually abused, victims of violence and exploited for economic reasons. A dramatic picture emerges from "Neither Safe nor Sound", the focus on unaccompanied migrant minors by Unicef France and the United Kingdom.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousThey suffer sexual abuse, they are victims of violence and are exploited for economic reasons. A dramatic picture emerges from the "Neither Safe nor Sound" ("Neither safe, nor safe"), the focus on unaccompanied migrant minors of Unicef France and the United Kingdom.
Every day, the children who live in the fields in northern France, on the coast between the English Channel and the North Sea, are pawns in the hands of unscrupulous men, who take advantage of their innocence.
Through their voice emerges a situation in which you abuse, reduction into slavery for debts incurred by families, forced participation to criminal activities they have become daily bread.
The studio has been imprisoned in esame i almost said 60 children and adolescents aged 11-16 from Afghanistan, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria and Vietnam, who lived from January to April 2016, in seven camps along the coast between France and England.
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Most of them have fled from war, they are currently trapped in refugee camps and cannot reach theirs families in the UK.
“Rape and other sexual violence, including against adolescents and boys forced prostitution they are a constant threat. This is combined with enslavement for debt and criminal activities, such as assisting traffickers at ferry terminals ”, the study reads.
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The girls tell Unicef about sexual services in exchange for the promise in a passage to the United Kingdom or to speed up displacement and travel operations. Unaccompanied minors have to pay some sort of to enter the camps entrance fee. Having no money with them, they are reduced to semi-slavery to pay off the debt.
"We are forced to work hard, we don't eat all day, we sell food in the clandestine night market set up in the Calais jungle. We live in very bad living conditions, we are cold, hungry and very tired. None of us go to school, we just work ”, they tell Unicef.
According to the association that fights for children's rights, some children and young people have even expressed a desire to be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital following nervous breakdowns and violent episodes.
To cross the Channel, the traffickers ask for between 4 thousand and 5 thousand pounds, or around 5-7 thousand euros per person, the highest price ever. Unaccompanied minors are hidden in the cold rooms of trucks.
“Immediate action by the British government could prevent these children from falling into the hands of traffickers. These camps are not suitable places for children, and we know that there are at least 157 minors in Calais who would have the legal right to be reunited with their families in Great Britain, "he explains. Lily Caprani, deputy director of the British Unicef Committee.
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Second Caprani: "The longer these children have to wait, the more desperate they will be and the greater the likelihood that they will risk their lives to escape the terrible conditions of the camps to reach their families."
For the “Neither Safe nor Sound” report, as of March 2016 they were over 500 minors unaccompanied living in seven refugee camps, including Calais and Dunkirk. From June 2015 to today, it is estimated that there are about 2 thousand.
“Although the average stay in these“ jungles ”is 5 months, some children have spent up to 9 months there and one has been there for over a year. Furthermore, this average is rapidly rising due to increased security at the borders and the greater difficulties of undertaking these trips, ”says UNICEF.
UNICEF UK asks the UK Government to:
1) Ensure efficient resources for the effective functioning of the family reunification process which includes funds for the staff of the British Government Department for Immigration, identification of children and the reduction of the delay of the process (which should include a maximum of 3 months).
2) Ensure that children receive reliable information about the process family reunification.
3) To guarantee unaccompanied children access to aquality legal assistance, so that their requests for family reunification in the UK can be analyzed as soon as possible.
4) To publish Guidelines on how to handle Dublin III family reunification cases and the recourse of local authorities to conduct necessary checks on families to ensure that family reunification is in the best interests of the child.
Dominella Trunfio
Photo: Getty Images
