Sierra Leone: Child Found Floating Alone In The Sea, Wearing A Life Jacket Made Of Tyre Tubes, After 44 Other Passengers On Her Boat Believed To Have Drowned

Statement by Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe

“An 11-year-old girl was rescued yesterday from a shipwreck off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa. All 44 other people on board, including women and children, are believed to have drowned.

“The child was found floating in the water, alone, wearing a life jacket and clinging to two tyre tubes, in the middle of the night. She had no drinking water or food. A doctor determined she had been in the water for at least 12 hours.

“The girl, who is from Sierra Leone, told rescuers that the boat sank in a storm after departing from Sfax, Tunisia. Her brother and cousin who were traveling with her drowned.

“This is the third deadly shipwreck of migrants in the Mediterranean in as many weeks. Since 2014, nearly 31,000 people have died or disappeared while migrating across the Mediterranean. This includes hundreds of children, who make up one in five of all people migrating through the Mediterranean. The majority are fleeing violent conflict and poverty.

“UNICEF calls on governments to use the Migration and Asylum Pact to strengthen their commitment to safeguarding children. This must ensure safe, legal and accessible pathways for children to seek protection and reunite with family members. Saving children’s lives requires coordinated search and rescue operations at sea, safe disembarkation, community-based reception, and access to asylum services.

“We urge for increased investment in essential services to support children and families arriving in Europe by these perilous migration routes. This includes access to psychosocial support, legal aid, health care and education services.

“UNICEF is also calling on governments to address the root causes that lead families to migrate as well as promote their integration into host communities. The rights of children on the move need to be protected at all times during all phases of their migration journey.

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