Of the 50 million refugees and displaced people in the world, approximately
half are children—most of them victims of war. All refugees
live a life at risk, stripped of land, jobs, and family support
systems. However, of this already vulnerable population, children
are surely the most vulnerable. Child refugees often face deficits
in education and nutrition. In the absence of parents or other guardians,
too often children take to the streets in search of food, safety,
and stability—a far cry from playground games. Some of the
most poignant facts about child refugees:
War creates child refugees.
- War is the primary factor in the creation of child refugees.
It is also a principle cause of child death, injury, and loss
of parents. In the last decade, war has killed more than 2 million
children, wounded another 6 million, and orphaned about 1 million.
- Forced military recruitment of children is a serious and growing
practice. More than 300,000 boys and girls under 18 years old
are currently serving as "child soldiers." Many are
less than 10 years old. These children are separated from their
families, lack education, face poverty, and are often subject
to drug and sexual abuse.
- Even if children in war-torn areas do not become refugees, their
education and employment opportunities often suffer. For example,
school buildings are frequently targets of war. During Mozambique's
civil war in the 1980s and 1990s, almost half of the nation's
schools were destroyed.
- Prolonged war and conflict often give rise to grinding poverty;
poverty is widespread among child refugees.
Abuse and legal status play a role, too.
- Children also flee their homes because they fear various forms
of abuse such as rape, sexual slavery, and child labor.
- Circumstances of birth also play a role in depriving children
of a legal home. Each year 40 million children are not registered
at birth, depriving them of nationality and a legal name.
Many child refugees are orphans or separated from their parents.
- The combined ravages of AIDS and war have created a large pool
of orphan refugees and displaced children, particularly in Africa.
The toll of Rwanda's civil war, for example, left orphan children
to head some 45,000 Rwandan households, with 90 percent of these
headed by girls.
- "Separated Children" are those under age 18 and living outside
their country of origin without parents or legal guardians to
care for or protect them. Every year, about 20,000 separated children
apply for asylum in Europe, North America, and Oceania. Overall,
children account for approximately half of all individuals seeking
legal asylum in developed countries.
- Separated children are not often legally recognized as refugees
in western countries. In Europe, for example, where there may
be as many as 50,000 separated children at any given time, only
an estimated 1-5 percent of those who apply for asylum are granted
refugee status.
Humanitarian organizations can help, but are making little headway in reducing overall child refugee rates.
- There have been some notable successes in meeting the needs
of child refugees. For example, a global tracing program organized
by humanitarian organizations reunited more than 67,000 children
with their families in Africa's Great Lakes region between 1994
and 2000.
- Budgetary restrictions hamper further efforts to help child
refugees. Between 1994 and 1999, the UN requested $13.5 billion
in emergency relief from its member nations, much of it for children.
It collected less than $9 billion.
- Today, aid organizations realize their care for child refugees
must go beyond food and shelter. Education is a primary need,
too, giving refugee children the tools to survive and make a healthy,
productive home of their own.
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