Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

UNICEF: 1.5 Million Children Fled Ukraine at Risk of Human Trafficking


Sat 19 Mar 2022 | 11:41 PM
Ahmad El-Assasy

UNICEF has warned that the more than 1.5 million children who have fled the conflict-torn Ukraine since Russia's invasion last month are at greater risk of becoming victims of human trafficking.

"The conflict in Ukraine is causing tremendous displacement and refugee movements - conditions that could lead to a considerable increase in human trafficking and a severe child protection catastrophe," UNICEF's regional director for Europe and Central Asia, Afshan Khan, warned. "Children who have been forced to flee their homes are particularly vulnerable to being separated from their family, exploited, and trafficked. They need governments in the region to step up and put in place safeguards to protect them."

Because many males are compelled to stay behind to fight, women and children make up the majority of Ukrainian refugees fleeing to neighbouring nations.

Some of the children are travelling entirely on their own. Between February 24 and March 17, UNICEF documented over 500 unaccompanied children migrating from Ukraine into Romania. According to the charity, unaccompanied children are at a heightened risk of being targeted by traffickers looking to profit from the upheaval in Ukraine.

Khan believes that governments should do more to safeguard the young and weak.

"Children escaping Ukraine's war should be assessed for vulnerability when they move into a neighbouring nation," Khan said. "At refugee border crossings, every effort should be taken to tighten screening measures."