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Migrant children forced into sexual acts on Italy-France border: NGO
ROME, July 30, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – A recent report from a children’s
charity revealed that migrant children from Africa are being sexually
exploited to obtain safe passage from Italy to France, local media reported
Sunday.
The report, issued by the non-governmental organization Save the Children
Italy, said that the minors, mostly from Africa, are being required to pay 50
to 150 euros (58 to 175 U.S. dollars) for a safe passage on the border. The
children are forced by smugglers to perform sex acts if they cannot afford
the fee. The minors are also abused to get food or shelter.
The charity group said that about 1,900 girls had been sexually exploited
across Italy between January 2017 and March 2018.
“These are very young, and particularly at-risk girls, who are among the
invisible flow of unaccompanied migrant minors in transit at the northern
Italian border who, in an attempt to reunite with their relatives or
acquaintances in other European countries, are deprived of the opportunity to
travel safely and legally,” Raffaela Milano, director of Italy-Europe
programs at Save the Children, said in the report.
The report said that migrant children were also being sexually exploited in
other parts of Italy, including Rome. The organization has called for the
protection of the children to save them from exploitation.
“At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the anti-trafficking
network at the European and international level to target criminal networks
that speculate on the suffering of minors and to strengthen law enforcement
measures in a widespread way throughout the territory,” Milano said.
The recent report follows a previous one issued by Oxfam, a Britain-based
confederation of 20 independent charitable organizations, which first
reported in June that French border police “illegally” sent migrant children
back to Italy.
According to the Oxfam report, at least 16,500 migrants, of whom a quarter
were children, had passed through the Italian border town of Ventimiglia in
the nine months to April 2018.
“Europe must fix its asylum system, and share the responsibility for
hosting asylum seekers. Governments and border officials should protect the
special needs and rights of children instead of illegally pushing them back
to other countries. Children should never be kept in jail cells or subjected
to cruel abuse,” said Elisa Bacciotti, a member at Oxfam Italy.
BSS/XINHUA/FI/ 1055 hrs