Child Refugee Crisis

“Our emergency team was distributing aid in one of the new camps last night and they spoke to families who were sleeping in tents with nothing but a blanket on the hard concrete. In Europe in 2016 this is totally unacceptable and inhumane. For many people it’s yet another terrible experience for them after months and often years of living with war and then surviving the dangerous journey to Europe. Our staff said some people have just lost all hope.”

Amy Frost, Save the Children’s Team Leader in Greece, on the closing of the Idomeni Camp and relocation of refugees and migrants to warehouses.

The stranding of over 53,000 refugees and migrants in Greece and the confirmed deaths of 880 people attempting the perilous sea crossing from Libya to Italy in smugglers’ boats in the last week of May are keeping the world’s attention riveted on the plight of those desperately seeking to reach Europe. As of late May, over 1.2 million people had migrated to Europe since 2015 began, with no end to this movement from places of brutal conflict, oppression, human rights abuses and deep poverty.

Save the Children continues to reach refugee and migrant children in Greece, Italy, and throughout Europe with humanitarian relief. As conditions change, we are adapting our work so that we can address urgent needs and support children wherever they are. We make every effort to reach children who are unaccompanied by families or adults, as they are in grave danger of exploitation and abuse. Many sleep in parks and camps, too afraid to ask for help for fear of being detained.

Our teams and volunteers are also assisting children who have arrived in Europe’s destination countries, and our presence remains strong in the Middle East, where many thousands of girls and boys are in dire need inside Syria and in refugee camps and host communities within countries surrounding Syria.

Links:

• Refugee Children Crisis