The chaotic exodus of 10 million refugees fleeing the military conflict in Ukraine over the past six months is a turbulent river in which human traffickers and mafia groups involved in sexual exploitation are operating, according to El Mundo.
Ninety per cent of those displaced are women and children, prompting humanitarian organisations and NGOs to warn of the dangers they face, especially minors. In the first month of the clashes alone, 1.5 million boys and girls left the country, according to UNICEF, which warns that human traffickers could exploit the chaos of this large-scale exodus.
One of the reasons is the lack of effective border controls in some European Union countries, as well as the lack of registration or monitoring of various groups of refugees leaving Ukraine. This concern was raised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), warning Ukrainians fleeing the conflict about the existence of criminal and predatory networks operating with promises of free transport, accommodation, employment or other forms of assistance.
The departure of 16-year-old Ihor in April illustrates this danger. According to him, he entered Poland unaccompanied by adults: “A border guard approached me and took me to a room. He said that minors cannot travel to Poland alone.”
The guard asked Igor to wait there: “Wait in this room and I will take you to a refugee centre where there is food and water and where you will be assigned a temporary guardian in Poland.” But the teenager became suspicious: “I got the impression that they weren’t even looking for us because I found a tutor in one day. I posted a message on Facebook, and the next day we were on our way to Częstochowa. I would like these volunteers to find me a guardian.”
UNICEF has called on the governments of European countries bordering Ukraine to develop effective measures to protect minors at border crossings and to quickly identify unaccompanied minors. El MUNDO investigated which European countries are taking measures to register groups of refugees in vulnerable situations, such as unaccompanied minors. Against the backdrop of growing warnings about the activities of human trafficking networks since the start of the war, it sent requests for information to a total of 12 countries (Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom).
Only the authorities of four countries (France, Italy, Belgium and the Czech Republic) keep records of how many unaccompanied minors have entered the country, including information on their age and gender. Two other states (Croatia and the Netherlands) also do so, but without going into detail. According to the information provided, in the first month of the conflict alone, at least 3,885 boys and girls arrived in these six European countries unaccompanied by adults. Italy is a case in point, with 2,995 children arriving between February 24 and March 30.
Five countries either do not register these boys and girls or claim that the data is confidential. This is the case with Spain, whose State Secretariat for Security of the Ministry of the Interior, contacted through the Transparency portal, justified its refusal to disclose this information on the grounds that it could “damage bilateral relations.” Slovakia responded that the information was confidential, while the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Poland did not provide any data.
Protection for children
“Without accurate and up-to-date data, it is impossible to develop good protection systems. All boys and girls deserve to be registered and have their cases reviewed until they are resolved and the minor is returned to a safe place. We cannot protect children we cannot see. Gaps in the identification, registration and monitoring of vulnerable minors from Ukraine arriving in the European Union are a serious cause for concern,” Yagoda Trauer of Missing Children Europe (MCE) noted.
This Federation of European NGOs fighting against the sexual exploitation of children says it is concerned that “out of the public eye, these children will become victims of violence, abuse and trafficking.” Trauer also added: “The lack of data on migrant children, especially those who are missing, is extremely worrying. Every child lost points to a failure in the social protection and child protection system.” According to MCE’s overall data, more than 250,000 minors disappear without trace every year in the European Union.
In the specific case of Ukraine, Slovakia investigated 30 possible cases of human trafficking with negative results, while the Netherlands investigated two cases of sexual exploitation, as this newspaper has learned. Belgium, Croatia and the Czech Republic found no evidence of this type of victimisation. It is worrying that seven of the 12 countries surveyed, including Spain, were unable to respond to our request for information on possible victims.
In Poland, journalistic investigations have revealed several cases of Ukrainian teenagers aged between 16 and 18 entering the country without reliable guardians, especially in the first weeks of the evacuation. This is the case of 17-year-old Alina, who left Ukraine six months ago.
“My mother and I were unsure whether I would be allowed into Poland without an accompanying adult, so my mother called me and I handed the phone to a woman sitting next to me on the bus. She agreed to sign a document so that I could cross the border with her.”
