Situation reports and advocacy briefs on refugee and migrant children

Latest situation report

• Since January 2019, 35,400 refugees and migrants (one in four of whom children) arrived through the Mediterranean migration routes. The majority were registered in Greece, bringing the number of refugee and migrant children present in this country to 32,000- a 52 per cent increase since January.
• In the five countries where UNICEF supports the integration of children on the move (Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Italy, Serbia), 17,400 of them attended formal and non-formal education, and another 8,000 benefitted from psychosocial support, case management and referral. Community-based care was provided to 2,600 unaccompanied children. Over 2,900 women, girls, boys and men were also assisted with GBV prevention and response services.
• Aiming at system strengthening, UNICEF technical assistance to authorities resulted in the implementation of new legislation on guardianship and care for unaccompanied refugee and migrant children in Greece, in expanding access to formal education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, improving safeguarding measures in reception centers in Serbia, and enhancing skills-building for vulnerable adolescents in Italy.
• Migration remains highly political with restrictive asylum policies, increased immigration detention, violent push-backs at borders and the criminalization of solidarity. Reception conditions offered to children in several countries are below regional norms, while shifts in funding priorities threaten gains achieved in education. Yet, the new European leadership and policy reforms under-way present opportunities to improve standards to keep children safe from violence and provide them with the basic care and services they need to integrate and contribute to host communities.

View situation report for April - June 2019