The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday that more than 25,000 children are missing in Africa. These children represent 40% of the 64,000 cases of missing persons recorded by the ICRC on the continent, according to the organization.
According to the ICRC, documented cases of missing persons are on the rise in Africa, and these figures represent only part of the reality. The real figures are much higher, indicates the organization which warns of this tragic humanitarian problem of the disappearance of children.
Patrick Youssef, regional director of the ICRC for Africa, estimated that the 25,000 cases recorded did not allow us to take the full measure of this tragic and often neglected humanitarian phenomenon.
“There is no doubt that there are more children whose fate remains unknown,” he said in a statement on the occasion of the International Day of Missing Persons.
The charity said documented cases of missing persons were on the rise, while warning that the actual numbers are much higher.
There are more than 35 active armed conflicts in Africa, where thousands of people, including children, cross borders, the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea every year in search of safety and a better life. The ICRC explained that such movements often involve great risks, including the risk of disappearance.
The ICRC said that in 2021, it helped trace and trace 4,200 people and reunite 1,200 families in Africa. It has also facilitated more than 773,000 phone and video calls between families separated as a result of armed conflict or other situations of violence, migration, detention or other circumstances.