ICRC says over 25,000 children are missing in Africa

Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Tuesday that more than 25,000 minors are missing across Africa.

According to the global charity’s latest figures, the children represent 40 percent of the 64,000 cases of disappeared persons registered by the ICRC across the continent.

Patrick Youssef, regional director for the ICRC in Africa, said the 25,000 registered cases do not capture the full scope of this often-neglected and tragic humanitarian issue. “There is no doubt that there are more children whose fate remains unknown,” Youssef said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.

The charity said that documented cases of missing persons are on the rise, warning that the actual figures are much higher. There are over 35 active armed conflicts in Africa where thousands of people, including children, cross borders, the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and better life each year.

It said such movements often necessitate great risk, including the risk of disappearance.

The ICRC said it helped establish the whereabouts and fates of 4,200 people and reunited 1,200 families across Africa in 2021. It also facilitated more than 773,000 phone and video calls between separated families as a result of armed conflict or other situations of violence, migration, detention, or other circumstances.

Youssef said having the right policies in place can save lives, noting that it’s an essential step to protecting migrants and families of missing persons.

ICRC said children face such risks as exploitation, violence, mental distress and disappearance during displacement, whether internal or across borders while many also end up alone, with no news of their families’ whereabouts.

The charity said it has more than 5,200 documented cases of unaccompanied children in Africa.