By Afshan Khan*
Geneva: I am shocked by the news of the recent shipwreck off the French coast, which claimed the lives of at least 27 people, including children and a pregnant woman [on Wednesday, November 24, 2021].
This tragedy – the deadliest on record along the English Channel – is a stark reminder that urgent collective action is needed to stop the avoidable loss of life at sea and prevent similar events from happening again in the future.
[The 27 people including women and young people, lost their lives attempting to cross one of the world’s most dangerous sea routes. This is the largest loss of life recorded in this seaway in recent times].
At least 744 people on the move have lost their lives in Europe since 2014, almost 200 of them in an attempt to cross the Channel. This figure jumps to more than 23,000 if we include deaths recorded in the Mediterranean since 2014, including countless children.
Many of the children and families arriving in Europe flee war and conflict. Others escape poverty, violence, discrimination, and abuse, in search of a safer and better future.
We, as UNICEF, renew our urgent call to all member states:
- To scale up search and rescue operations at sea, including safe disembarkation.
- To provide safe legal pathways to protect children on the move and prevent them from being exposed to dangerous journeys and to violence, abuse and exploitation by traffickers and smugglers.
- Not to return asylum seeking and refugee children to any country unless this is determined to be in their best interest, as per legal standards.
- To end child immigration detention and keep families together.
- To protect children in countries of origin, destination and along migration routes by ensuring adequate reception conditions and child-friendly asylum procedures.
It is deeply concerning how far we are from realizing the rights of children on the move. UNICEF is ready to scale up its efforts with governments, UN organisations and EU institutions to provide urgent humanitarian support and protection to children on the move.
The death of one child at sea is one too many. We can – and must – work together to protect every child fleeing from conflict, violence, and poverty, everywhere.
*Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe
