Highlights
In 2015, 1,014,836 people crossed the Mediterranean, arriving on Europe’s shores. One in four of all arrivals was a child, but in SouthEastern Europe this proportion is one in three.
The proportion of children amongst refugees and migrants continues to increase. In Serbia it currently stands at 35 per cent in comparison to 27 per cent in September, while in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia this ratio is 37 per cent compared to 23 per cent in September.
To date UNICEF has reached 100,000 children in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia. Of these, 81,000 children received services through the network of UNICEF supported child-friendly spaces, and nearly 18,000 babies and infants received specialized services through UNICEF mother-andbaby care spaces.
Between 14 December 2015 and 3 January 2016, UNICEF reached 7,380 babies with health and nutrition services, and 21,397 children with recreational and other activities in child-friendly services. This is 20 per cent more compared to the previous reporting period.
UNICEF’s response to the needs of children on the move and their families continues to be provided within short time of interaction due to still prevailing high dynamics of population movement. One of the main factor influencing the response are selective processing of refugees and migrants based on their nationality at border crossing points.
UNICEF has raised US$ 12,069,461, which is 86 per cent of the total appeal of US$14,019,135 to respond to the crisis. UNICEF is revising its funding needs to better reflect resources needed for scaling up its response to the evolving situation.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
A total of 1,014,836 people arrived in Europe by sea in 2015, according to UNHCR, of whom estimated 253,700 were children. More than half of them entered Europe between October and December 2015, using the Eastern Mediterranean route- through Greece and the Western Balkans, escaping mostly conflicts and insecurity in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Despite the deteriorating winter weather, and amidst stepped-up efforts by the Turkish authorities to stem the flow of people on the move, people continue to take the perilous journey to Europe. Casualties are frequent– only the latest accidents on 24 December 2015, 2 January and 5 January 2016 claimed the lives of at least 10 children, some as young as 2 years of age. On 3 January 2016, a WhatsApp message was received by a UNICEF translator in Slavonski Brod, Croatia about a boat with 80 people caught in a storm in the Aegean Sea. After receiving the exact coordinates of the boat, UNICEF and UNHCR quick reaction enabled the Turkish Navy to save all passengers on board.
Between August and December 2015, 147,727 children were registered crossing the borders into Serbia. 62 per cent of them were boys, and 38 per cent were girls. There was a spike in the number of children on the move through Serbia in October (53,249), which was a four-fold increase since September (13,947). This number, however, then slightly decreased in November and December due to the introduction of new border restrictions. The proportion of children, however, steadily increased from 27 per cent in September to 35 per cent in December. In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, this increase is even more visible: in September, children were 23 per cent of all registered refugees and migrants, while in December 37 per cent were children. UNICEF in Serbia has also noted that in December most children transiting through UNICEF child-friendly spaces were young children- babies and infants, and children aged 5 to 9 years. Children with disabilities represent an average 13 per cent of all children on the move.
Children arriving in South-eastern Europe continue to be physically exhausted, scared, distressed and often in need of medical assistance. The harsh winter conditions are exacerbating the situation as most of the children on the move are without adequate clothing and limited access to age-appropriate nutrition. This, along with limited shelter capacity and inadequate heating in the reception centers and buses/trains on the route are the key challenges confronting the response by UNICEF and its partners.
During the month of December 2015, authorities in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and other countries in South-eastern Europe continued to allow only Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan nationals. Since the beginning of 2016, Serbian police is submitting a list with the names and nationalities of refugees and migrants to Croatian police before they get on the train, which will then take them further to Western Europe. The same procedure is being applied to refugees and migrants travelling from Croatia to Slovenia. As an additional measure to improve border control, Croatia and Slovenia have limited the daily arrivals to a maximum of 3,760 refugees and migrants travelling on four trains (each carrying 940 people) every six hours.