The risk of trafficking threatens Ukrainian children

The European Commissioner for Internal Affairs says children fleeing the war in Ukraine are at risk of falling into the trap of traffickers. It is estimated that since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, about 3.3 million Ukrainians have fled the EU and fled to EU countries.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Yelva Johansson warned at a news conference on Monday that Ukrainian children were at risk of being trapped by human trafficking groups. Millions more Ukrainians are expected to join the European Union, she said.

She stressed that the danger that threatens Ukrainian children is more concentrated at the borders; Where criminal networks play the role of aid workers and seize the opportunity to exploit vulnerable people by offering housing.

Many children in Ukraine are born through those mothers who have rented their wombs but whose primary parents have not delivered their children. This has increased the risk of child abduction or adoption.

Emphasizing that "there is a great risk of trafficking in vulnerable children," Mrs. Johansson said that police and women and children's rights activists in Ukraine had previously reported concerns about mass migration.

On March 17, a group of experts on combating human slavery in the Council of Europe expressed concern about the current situation. According to the group, "orphans fleeing Ukraine" are special targets for traffickers, and "many of them have already disappeared."

"Between February 24 and March 17, it registered more than 500 unaccompanied children on the Ukrainian-Romanian border," UNICEF said on Monday.

 

_{Source and Credit: UNICEF, EU news}