Abdullateef was only 7 years old when his village was bombed and evacuated in 2015, now he is 11 and has been in 3 countries and even though they are back in Nigeria now, he has had only 2 months of complete schooling since they were forced to leave their small village. He had always wanted to be a pilot and fly planes across the world like he had read of in books but he does not think it is possible anymore.
And there is 14-year-old Nasah, whose parents died in a bombing in their settlement, and then travelled with his elder brother to Libya where they were kidnapped to be sold as slaves. Fortunately, they were rescued early enough.
According to the recently released UNICEF report on children migrants and refugees, there are 20 million refugees in the world and half of them are children – who have been forcibly displaced from their own countries. In Africa alone, there are about 8 million refugees and more than half are children. Many refugee children do not get quality education, access to health care and other essential services.
Furthermore, since refugee children are on the move within their countries and between countries more and the routes they travel are often unsafe and illegal, they are prone to trafficking, violence and abuse. UNICEF reported there are more young people aged 14-17 years who travel the hazardous Eastern or Central Mediterranean routes and are at risk of different forms of exploitation and even death.
With the recognition of the children refugee demographics comes the understanding that humanitarian assistance must prioritise and target the needs of children, starting with more comprehensive data collection on these children’s age and sex; their origin and destination countries; their routes; whether they move with their families or alone; how they fare along the way and what their vulnerabilities are as this is essential to planning programs and making policies to meet their needs.
More attention must also be given to preventing the prolonged conflicts, persistent violence and extreme poverty that drive children and their families from their homes. Social investment programmes that result in improved access to education, better social safety nets, opportunities for family income and youth employment, peaceful conflict resolution and increased tolerance will target the underlying causes and give rise to more stable and peaceful communities and less children on the move.