Europol has revealed that at least 10,000 refugee children, who were not accompanied by their parents, disappeared after arriving in Europe. There are fears that many of them might be victims of traffickers. A guest of Al Jazeera was the director and founder of the First Children's Embassy in the World "Megjashi", Macedonia, Mr. Dragi Zmijanac. -Mr. Zmijanac, how do you explain today’s Europol report that on the territory of Europe went missing almost 10,000 refugee children? -It is not only that 10, 000 children went missing, but also important is the number of 270,000 children who entered in the EU, and that number of 10,000 children are children unaccompanied by their parents or relatives. In the beginning of the refugee crisis on the Greek border towards Macedonia and Serbia, the First Children Embassy in the World Megjashi requested from the European countries to pay maximum attention on the safety of the children. It means that when they transit them, they have to be accompanied by their parents, relatives or the state that transit these children to indicate them a tutor who will take care of the entrusted children. Or children to be situated in a camp until their families are not united, so this is an enormous danger for children’s safety so that the EU and the countries in EU have to be alert very seriously because the children’s organs traffickers, sex trafficking, children’s prostitution and pornography may take such momentum, so the countries who allow transit of unaccompanied children would be accomplice with this huge crisis and I would say that the children are those who have tragic situations who not only pay with their lives traveling on the Aegean Sea, but also when they transit through the route that I have mentioned. - And when they enter in Europe. Why, according to you, the police of the European countries during this refugee crisis, could not, or did not succeed to combat with the criminal structures who are children traffickers? - It is interesting to see this problem from the aspect that during this crisis the criminal structures were organized to do that in a more mobile way than those who have to protect the children. There are possibilities that they infiltrated among the safety structures and I think that the most threatening is the fact that it is easiest to manipulate with unaccompanied children and abduct them and I must say that it is a shame for all society and EU, together with my country, because they were unserious in accepting these people and children who escaped by the war madness and the fear that they had there and I think that the first and most important chain that has to be is Greece because in Greece they have to regulate this legal basis, and when they transit through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia or Hungary, then I think, as I said in the beginning, if they did not unite with their nearest relatives, they had to indicate, ex officio, a tutor who will take care of their safety until they did not transit these children until the final destination. - There are so many gaps in that chain. What have to be done in order these children to be found and is it really possible these children to be found? - It is possible, I believe that it is possible if the International Community consolidate, if the non-governmental organizations and inter-governmental organizations cooperate among themselves. It is certain that we have to be closer to people who we transit, to accept them and realize that they really escaped from the war, to cooperate with the state authorities because they know if some children have separated from the others, if some children are unaccompanied. They have to be the main, I would say, reporters of such cases and through them the state structures, police, Interpol, Europol could find these children and to unite them with their families and in that way their safety can be guaranteed, as well as their proper growth and development because a phase is coming when these children have to be incorporated in the educational system because illiteracy, poverty, hunger and disempowerment are very close to abuse of children and their labour, so I think that the states should mobilize themselves and have to guarantee a maximum safety of these children or to accept them properly for a democratic country to take care of children who have escaped from war madness or at any cause to find their parents or relatives. -The Children’s Embassy Megjashi had earlier warned of such scenario, you always warned about the children, who you registered that were transited unaccompanied by their parents.

• published: 04 Feb 2016
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