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STORY: GENEVA / MIGRANT UPDATE
TRT: 02:53
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 2 SEPTEMBER 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Aerial shot, exterior Palais des Nations
2 SEPTEMBER 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) William Spindler, Spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“UNHCR estimates that, since Alan’s death 4,176 people have died or gone missing on the Mediterranean – an average of 11 men, women and children perishing every single day over the last 12 months”.
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) William Spindler, Spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“So far this year, one person has died for every 42 crossing from North Africa to Italy, compared to one in every 52 last year. This makes 2016 to date the deadliest year on record in the Central Mediterranean.”
6. Close up, journalist
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Crowe, Spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
”UNICEF estimates that half a million children in fact have risked exploitation as a result of smuggling which is now turned into a big business for smugglers across Europe, across the Balkans. They are using old routes that were once used for drug and arm smuggling and they have now been reused for the purpose of smuggling people. And of course children are the most vulnerable, and unaccompanied (children) are particularly at risk for greater exploitation from smuggling which can become trafficking.”
8. Wide shot, podium
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Crowe, Spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“I think it is relevant, because it is a new figure just out this week from Eurostat revealing that 580,000 asylum claims have been lodged by children in Europe and by Europe we mean the EU plus the Schengen countries since January 2015. And there you have the Europol and Interpol report suggesting 90 percent of those who take the journey have been exposed to smugglers working on criminal network.”
10. Close up, journalist
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Crowe, Spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“About US$ 5-6 billion annually is going into smuggling, it’s becoming a huge business and children, of course, are facing not only greater risks as real result of smuggling becoming trafficking but also they are in debt. So at every step of the way they face greater risks and once they reach their destination it is only the start of a sometimes even more dangerous journey, because they have to pay back those risks and sometimes on their own right as children - even with families they have debts as well.”
12. Close up, journalist
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Crowe, Spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“What we have seen with this, and you all have seen it, this is what I would like to call the first digital humanitarian crisis. People are using cell phones, smart phones to navigate their way from A to B and young people are doing that.”
14. Close up, journalist
One year after the publication of the shocking photograph of a dead toddler washed up on a beach in Turkey sparked a wave of outrage across the world, United Nations spokespersons in Geneva reminded journalists of the heavy human price of mass migration across the Mediterranean.
William Spindler, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today said that “UNHCR estimates that, since the death of Alan Kurdi, 4,176 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean – an average of 11 men, women and children perishing every single day over the last 12 months.”
While the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Greece has dropped dramatically, the number of arrivals to Italy has remained more or less constant. The main change, according to UNHCR, has been the number of casualties. Spindler said that “so far this year, one person has died for every 42 crossing from North Africa to Italy, compared to one in every 52 last year. This makes 2016 to date the deadliest year on record in the Central Mediterranean.”
UNHCR is urging governments and their national partners to commit to the development and implementation of national integration plans and for a clear commitment to the prevention of discrimination.
Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that half a million children have risked exploitation as the refugee and migrant crisis turns into a big business for smugglers.
Sarah Crowe, Spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the media that ”UNICEF estimates that half a million children in fact have risked exploitation as a result of smuggling which is now turned into a big business for smugglers across Europe, across the Balkans. They are using old routes that were once used for drug and arm smuggling and they have now been reused for the purpose of smuggling people. And of course children are the most vulnerable, and unaccompanied (children) are particularly at risk for greater exploitation from smuggling which can become trafficking.”
UNICEF has gathered information from a wide range of sources in order to shine a light on the underworld of migrant smuggling in Europe. Crowe said that “I think it is relevant, because it is a new figure just out this week from Eurostat revealing that 580,000 asylum claims have been lodged by children in Europe and by Europe we mean the EU plus the Schengen countries since January 2015. And there you have the Europol and Interpol report suggesting 90 percent of those who take the journey have been exposed to smugglers working on criminal network.”
Although the tide of refugees and migrants has considerably slowed down, border closures, tightened migration policies and the EU-Turkey agreement have led these criminal groups to adapt well-established drugs and arms smuggling routes to carry refugees, said UNICEF.
Crowe explained that “about US$ 5-6 billion annually is going into smuggling, it’s becoming a huge business and children, of course, are facing not only greater risks as real result of smuggling becoming trafficking but also they are in debt. So at every step of the way they face greater risks and once they reach their destination it is only the start of a sometimes even more dangerous journey, because they have to pay back those risks and sometimes on their own right as children - even with families they have debts as well.”
Europol suggests that these criminals have trebled their prices, with many migrants paying up to Euro 3,000 for a single leg of their journey. The fact that the trip is mainly organized digitally makes it also more difficult to catch the smugglers.
Sarah Crowe said that “what we have seen with this, and you all have seen it, this is what I would like to call the first digital humanitarian crisis. People are using cell phones, smart phones to navigate their way from A to B and young people are doing that”.
