Ahead of World Refugee Day, Secretary General called on Europe’s governments to make protection of migrant and asylum-seeking minors against sexual abuse a top priority.
“Child protection is a moral duty and legal obligation for all European states. Last year, an estimated 300,000 migrant and asylum-seeking children have entered Europe alone, many of them unaccompanied. It is essential that national authorities take the necessary measures to provide safe, secure and suitable accommodation for these children, assign them appropriate legal guardians and protect from abuse.
“Refugee children are at grave risk of sexual exploitation and abuse, and face a very real danger of passing from the hands of smugglers to traffickers, compounding the trauma many have already endured.” (more...)