A quarter of asylum seekers in Europe are children

Photos of refugee and migrant children who have reached Europe are deeply disturbing. Corpses in the coast line…

As long as the crisis of migrants and refugees deepens in Europe these photos will not be the last  to press the social media and appear on TV screens and newspaper front page.

Photos of refugee children angered many people, but it is not enough. Indignation should be followed by appropriate actions. This situation of children is not on their choice or control. They need protection as well as right.

We insist that the following measures should be taken:

1. We need to protect children in this situation providing a range of essential services – healthcare, food, emotional support and education, as well as shelter for their families in order to keep them together.
2. It is necessary to ensure sufficient number of qualified child-care experts who will support children and their families.
3. It is necessary to continue search and rescue operations not only in the sea, but also on the land, as families move from different countries. We must do everything possible to prevent abuse and exploitation of refugee and migrant children.
4. While making any decision, children’s interests should be taken into account, including the right of applying for shelter and receiving it.

We are sorry for those families who lost their children, in the sea, beaches, roads to Europe… Alongside the policy debate we must forget neither profoundly human nature of the crisis, nor its scale. We must not forget children.

A quarter of asylum seekers in Europe are children. In the first six months of this year more than 106000 children have sought a shelter in Europe.

We should not also forget the reason of the family stories seeking security in Europe – terrible conflicts in Syria which have already forced two million children to flee. Only thye end of these conflicts will end suffering of these people.