Unaccompanied minors and child migrants separated from their parents are at risk of abuse, exploitation and violence as they seek safety in the camps for the displaced on the Tunisian-Libyan border.
UNICEF, with the support of IOM staff at the
border, say that more than 150 children have been identified
since the early days of the crisis in Libya when large numbers of
migrants fled to neighbouring countries.
However, this figure represents only the tip of the iceberg as
there was no systematic screening at the
border during the early weeks of the Libyan conflict when
huge numbers of migrants were crossing the border on a daily basis.
As a result, many children have not been adequately registered,
documented or followed up on.
Of the more than 150 identified unaccompanied minors and
separated child migrants in three camps on the Tunisian-Libyan
border, many are boys aged between 15-17 years from villages close
to Chad and Niger’s borders with Libya. Malian, Ivorian,
Ghanaian, Ethiopian and Sudanese minors are also part of the group.
All their families are very poor subsistence farmers or involved in
petty business.
Somali and Eritrean children have been referred to UNHCR
for international protection. The children had been working in
Libya, sent by families to provide an essential source of
additional income. They carried out odd jobs or were employed by
families or by construction companies.
The IOM team at Ras Adjir, the main entry point into Tunisia for
those fleeing Libya, says that the unaccompanied minors are highly
vulnerable because for several years they have carried the burden
of being the main breadwinners for their poverty-stricken families
in rural Africa. Those families continue to depend on them sending
income home.
Among the group, however, are also a small group of girls
trafficked from West African countries to Libya, ostensibly to work
and study, but who ended up in prostitution.
“We do not know who came with them to the border, whether these
were the same people responsible for trafficking or exploiting them
or whether they were kind compatriots helping them. If
traffickers are here, then clearly this is dangerous for the
girls. Few resources are available to follow up on this,
to find them and prosecute them,” says Agnès Tillinac,
IOM Child protection officer at Ras Adjir, Tunisia.
Children separated from their family are also being
identified in the camps or at Ras Djir border. This includes two
brothers, a 15-year-old and another a four-year-old, whose
mother remains missing and presumed dead following the recent boat
tragedy off the Tunisian coast when a vessel trying to take
migrants from Libya to Italy capsized and sank.
Tunisian authorities, UNICEF and IOM are currently working
on putting the two boys in alternative and more protective
accommodation until a solution can be found for them. With their
mother believed dead and the whereabouts of their divorced father
unknown, the only known relative is an uncle in Italy.
IOM and UNICEF, in close cooperation with Tunisian
authorities, are working to improve assistance to all these
children and the growing numbers of others now crossing the
border from Libya.
This includes providing training and other capacity
strengthening measures for first line workers and local
authorities to more easily identify unaccompanied minors and
separated children. Many are without papers while those with them
have incorrect information. The children are then referred into a
coordinated care system.
Focus is on reuniting the children with their families where
possible through interviews carried out to determine whether
reunification is in the best interest of a child. IOM has already
reunited 41 children with their families back home in Chad, Niger
and Senegal and is providing them with food, clothes, educational
support and professional trainings opportunities. For
children already 16 or 17 years old with some livelihood skills and
experience, income generating assistance can also be
provided in accordance with national labour regulations.
“It is a lengthy process to get to this stage involving many
partners. The children’s parents have to be traced by ICRC and then
contacted by IOM. Our staff then assesses the families and home
conditions to ensure they are suitable for return before we
actually reunite children with their parents,” adds Tillinac.
“The process is important to ensure their protection,
but many children are impatient and don’t understand that
this is being done for their own well-being. This impatience can be
dangerous for them as they are already among the most vulnerable
migrant population here.”
For further information, please contact Agnès Tillinac,
IOM Ras Adjir, Tunisia, Tel: +216 28 44 53 45 Email: atillinac@iom.int
