News / Germany

UNICEF censures living conditions of refugee kids in Germany

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 11:51 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 21 June 2016 11:55 AM ]

A migrant kid walks down a railroad track past a Hungarian police officer toward the Hungarian border near the northern Serbian town of Horgos, August 27, 2015. (AFP photo)

UNICEF on Tuesday censured the living conditions of refugee kids in Germany, saying they lack proper medical care and education.

The UN children's agency said in a report that the refugee children in Germany lack access to school for months.

The report said youngsters need better protection from abuse in large shelters, adding that their stays in the shelters need to be reduced.

Refugee children, traumatized by war and violence, need special protection and care, not less than their German peers, UNICEF said.

Christian Schneider, the UNICEF chief in Germany, said that "all children have equal rights, no matter where they are from, which community they belong to and which legal status they have."

The UN children’s agency has previously warned that child refugees are forced into crime and prostitution in France.

In April, the German news organization Funke Mediengruppe reported that nearly 6,000 refugee minors from countries in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia went missing in Germany in 2015, of whom 555 are under the age of 14.

Asylum seekers sleep in a tent as they wait to register at the State Office of Health and Social Affairs registration center in Berlin, Germany, December 21, 2015. ©AFP

The majority of the missing and unaccompanied minors were from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Morocco and Algeria.

Officials in Berlin have no indications of their whereabouts.

In February, the EU police agency, Europol, said more than 10,000 unaccompanied refugee children have gone missing after arriving in Europe over the past 18-24 months.

Several members of the European Parliament said in late May that missing underage refugees might be victims of criminal organizations involved in sex, slavery or organ trafficking.

Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees, who are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.

Many blame major European powers for the unprecedented exodus, saying their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and war in those regions, forcing more people to flee their homes.

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