Highlights
There has been a sharp increase in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Greece during the second half of October with as many as 85 boats arriving daily on Greek shores. Border police in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia have also registered an increased influx of people.
The refugee and migrant crisis in Europe is a crisis for children. 20 per cent of all refugees and migrants arriving in Europe are children. With winter approaching and borders closing, they and their families are becoming increasingly vulnerable.
Over 7,000 children have rested and played in UNICEF child friendly spaces in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia. Some 70 per cent of all transiting babies and infants have benefitted from UNICEF mother-and-baby care centres in Croatia. 3,315 women and 5,236 children received psychosocial support over the past two weeks in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Reaching all those children on the move who do not complete the registration process, addressing the urgent needs of children stranded at borders and effectively protecting unaccompanied and separated children are major challenges for UNICEF’s response to the crisis.
UNICEF requires US$11,266,998 out of a total appeal of US$14,019,135 to respond to the crisis, with a funding gap of 80 per cent.
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
705,251 # of arrivals in Europe by sea in 2015 (UNHCR, 26 October 2015) 20% are children
562,355 # of arrivals by sea through Greece in 2015 (UNHCR, 26 October 2015) 23% are children
225,000 # of children in need of assistance between September 2015 and December 2015