Protecting children affected by migration
When children migrate or seek asylum, they often undertake harrowing journeys alone and face multiple risks and dangers on their way to Europe and on arrival, from the life-threatening dangers of sea crossings to exploitation by traffickers
- English
- русский
Ensuring safety and support for children in Europe and Central Asia
Our goal: UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children affected by migration and displacement are upheld, regardless of their own migration status or that of their parents.
Data from the region
Children account for 1 in 6 of those who arrive in Italy via the Central Mediterranean migration route. Of these, around 70 per cent are travelling alone, without a parent or legal guardian.
Approximately one child dies every day attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea. The real numbers are likely to be much higher as many shipwrecks go unreported and many leave no survivors.
Türkiye has hosted the largest registered refugee population in the world since 2015.
Millions of people, including children, are forced from their homes each year or choose to leave in search of peace, safety and a new life – a decision often fueled by violence, political instability, conflict, climate change and poverty.
In the Europe and Central Asia region, large numbers of children have been displaced within their own countries, such as Türkiye and Ukraine, and the region now accounts for 10 per cent of the world’s internally displaced people. Others have risked their lives to travel to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea and Western Balkan routes in the absence of safe and legal migration pathways.
Migration routes are particularly dangerous for unaccompanied and separated children – especially girls, many of whom have already fled from violence, including child marriage, in their home country, or who may be trafficked. Many girls and boys who have taken the central Mediterranean route are reported to have endured sexual violence during their journeys. As well as being vulnerable to people smugglers and traffickers, every child on the move is likely to face harsh environmental conditions and a lack of shelter, food, water and sanitation and healthcare.
Those who make it to Europe often find themselves in overcrowded reception facilities – often alongside adults, and without privacy. Children’s vulnerability is heightened by a lack of effective measures to identify and refer them and by a lack of child-centred case management. There are not enough options for the care or legal guardianship of children who are unaccompanied and separated. And they may lack access to the basic services that they need. Education systems in Europe, for example, often struggle to support them.
Key policies
1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defines who a refugee is, and sets out their rights and the responsibilities of countries towards them.
1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to all children without exception, including those affected by migration and displacement.
2015 Sustainable Development Goals (2015): Target 10.7 calls for “orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration”.
The Joint General Comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families andthe Joint General Comment No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child set out State obligations on the human rights of children affected by migration.
The 2018 Global Migration Compact and Global Compact on Refugees include commitments from States to children affected by migration and displacement.
The 2024 EU Pact on Migration and Asylum demands safeguards for the most vulnerable, in particular families with children.
What is UNICEF doing?
UNICEF works to ensure that the needs of children migrating or seeking asylum are met and that their rights are upheld.
We support governments and service providers on child-friendly reception services and case management. We work with civil society organizations to provide hundreds of thousands of children with community-based child protection through ‘one-stop’ Child and Family Support Hubs, and mobile child and mother-friendly safe spaces. We have reinforced the capacities of social workers and other frontline service providers in Greece, Italy, and across south-eastern Europe. And in Central Asia we have worked with authorities to document and improve the way in which the children of migrant workers are identified and supported.
We call for an end to the detention of children on the move, making the case for – and developing – practical alternatives. In Italy, for example, we have worked with the authorities to build a network of legal guardians – a process that is being replicated in Greece. We also call for timely relocation, family reunification and other durable solutions for children.
We work with governments to ensure that children have access to the education and health services that are essential for their social inclusion. We have worked to ensure their integration into mainstream schools in Türkiye, for example, where most refugee children from Syria are now in school.
We track progress, trends and changes to improve data on refugee and migrant children to inform advocacy, programming and reporting. And we amplify the voices of children affected by migration. In Italy, we work with the U-Report social messaging tool to ensure their active participation in the issues that concern them.
UNICEF calls for six key actions to protect all children affected by migration and displacement.
- Protect child refugees and migrants, particularly unaccompanied children, from exploitation and violence.
- End the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating.
- Keep families together as the best way to protect children and give children legal status.
- Ensure that all refugee and migrant children keep learning and have access to health and other quality services.
- Press for action on the underlying causes of large-scale movements of refugees and migrants.
- Promote measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and marginalization in countries of transit and destination.