UN says 289 children died in Mediterranean crossings this year

Some 289 children are known to have died in the first half of 2023 while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, UNICEF's global lead on migration and displacement, Verena Knaus said.

Verena Knaus, UNICEF's global lead on migration and displacement said "The number of children that have lost their lives while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe has doubled compared to last year so in the first six months of this year alone, 289 children have died. This is almost the equivalent of an entire planeload full of children that just died. This is also equivalent to around 11 children dying every week. If you do the maths, it's almost two children a day."

In the first three months of 2023, around 3,300 children -- 71 percent of all children arriving in Europe on the central Mediterranean route -- were recorded as unaccompanied or separated. The figure is three times higher than in the same period last year.