Migrant and refugee children need our actions now
For past Lancet Oncology Commissions see http: thelancet.com/campaigns/ cancer/past commissions In a new report Uprooted: The Growing Crisis for Refugee and Migrant Children released on Sept 7, UNICEF paints a grim picture. Worldwide, an estimated 50 million children are refugees or migrants, with the number of child migrants having doubled and the number of refugees having increased by 21% in the past 10 years. The most vulnerable of these children are unaccompanied, and have often fl ed war, insecurity, and poverty under harrowing circumstances. They might be alone or they might have lost or become separated from their family during their journey. In one terrifying account, published on Sept 9 (Why are you keeping me here? Human Rights Watch describes how unaccompanied migrant children are detained in police custody in Greece in unsanitary and degrading conditions. Germany's national investigative police agency, the Bundeskriminalamt, has admitted in new fi gures that by the end of August almost 9000 unaccompanied children who were registered entering the country are offi cially missing. And while some of these children may be safe with relatives somewhere, there is the very real danger of exploitation and abuse. The UK has only managed to extricate 50 of 220 unaccompanied children stranded in the camp in Calais and who have a legal right to be reunited with families in the UK. This delay and inaction is unexplained and shameful. We agree with Zulfi qar Bhutta and colleagues' strong plea in a Correspondence letter, published online on Sept 5, that it is now time "to take the strongest action possible to protect children" The UCL Lancet Commission on Migration and Health, announced in this week's issue, promises to tackle key issues that aff ect the health and wellbeing of migrants, including unaccompanied children. Children not only need safe environments and access to health care, they need education and special psychosocial attention to mitigate the atrocities of war and persecution, including experiences of being uprooted into diff erent cultural environments. Outrage about the plight of migrant and refugee children is not enough. Childhood is a precious and important time that strongly infl uences what happens in the future. We must act now. The Lancet Migrant and refugee children need our actions now
The Lancet