According to the report “Hope and Damage” (“Hope and Harm”) by the NGO Save the Children, More than two million boys and girls have fled their countries of origin to Europe in the last two years.
56% of minors who fled to Europe were afraid of falling into the hands of border guards, police or human traffickers who crossed their path, with the exception of Ukrainian children that they especially regret being separated from their parents, who were unable to leave the country due to martial law.
This Save the Children report concludes that refugee children from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria and Afghanistan have suffered violence, including beatings and threats from police with firearms, at Europe's external borders.
Jennifer Zupirolli, head of children at Save the Children, calls on the EU to rethink the migration and asylum pact which complete the 27 in Brussels. “We would like to emphasize that the experience for children of Ukrainian origin is completely different because they have the opportunity to travel safely between European countries,” says Zupirolli. And demands as part of the negotiations on the European Migration and Asylum Pact: “That the lessons from the Ukraine crisis are taken into account and that no child is left unprotected on the way to Europe.”
The NGO recalls that with the new system of the future EU Migration and Asylum Pact, children arriving irregularly in Europe could be detained and their freedom of movement restricted, which would negatively impact their access to essential services such as education, etc Health.