More than 25,000 minors are missing across Africa, according to the latest figures shared by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Children represent 40 per cent of the 64,000 cases of disappearing persons registered by the ICRC across the continent.
There are more than 35 active armed conflicts in Africa today; thousands of people, including children, cross borders, the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and better life each year.
Such movements often entail great risk, including the risk of disappearance. Documented cases of missing persons are on the rise; however, the ICRC warns that the actual figures are much higher.
During displacement, children face such risks as exploitation, violence, mental distress and disappearance. Many also end up alone, with no news of their families’ whereabouts. The ICRC has more than 5,200 documented cases of unaccompanied children in Africa.
Amina, a child whose parents were killed in an attack on their village in Mali, managed to flee with her younger brother to neighbouring Niger. After four years of separation, the ICRC located her aunt.
To promote a more coherent and effective approach among African states that can help prevent people from going missing and better provide information about their fate to their families, the ICRC together with the African Union host a high-level policy meeting in Addis Ababa on August 30, focusing on missing migrants.
“Having the right policies in place can save lives. It is an essential step to protect migrants and families of missing persons. This is a question of humanity and human dignity,” said Patrick Youssef, “Families of the disappeared face immense pain and obstacles that often transcend generations. They are stuck in limbo, unable to move forward or grieve. The search for their loved ones never ends.”
Families of the disappeared face immense pain and obstacles that often transcend generations
In 2021, together with national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, the ICRC helped establish the whereabouts and fates of 4,200 people and reunited 1,200 families across Africa.
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.
In Nigeria, whereabouts of almost 14,000 children remain unknown
While according to the latest figures shared by the (ICRC) 64,000 cases of disappeared persons have been reported across Africa, in Nigeria alone, over 25,000 people have been reported missing. Almost 14,000 or more than half of the missing are children.
“Sadly, the almost 14,000 children registered 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,” said Yann Bonzon, head of the delegation for the ICRC in Nigeria.
The ICRC has more than 5,200 documented cases of unaccompanied children in Africa, which happen during displacements, resulting in many children ending up alone, with no news of their families’ whereabouts.
In 2022 from January to June, the ICRC together with the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), assisted in the exchange of 1,250 Red Cross Messages containing family news and reunited 31 separated children/unaccompanied minors with their families while 440 phone calls were provided to families to maintain family contact.
In addition, families of 377 persons received information about the whereabouts or fate of their loved ones and 146 families of missing persons received psychosocial, economic, legal and administrative support through the Accompaniment Program for Families of the Missing.
