pookymimi

I've been doing some reading about the refugees situation in Sicily and Italy in general to be aware of what's going on before my kids and I go in June. There is a website in particular that explains how the refugees are being rejected for being adults, unfortunately some minors are also classified as adults and forced to live on the streets as homeless, unaware that the law gives them immediate asylum for being minors. In the following link it's exposed the case of a little one who was just helped by somebody who tracked him from Sicily to Milan, these minors can be pray to human traffickers and smugglers who can abuse they current situation. So as a Mom I ask whoever travels to Italy, if you see a homeless child on the streets please call "Save the Children"
http://migrantsicily.blogspot.com/20...-rejected.html

justineparis

Thank you for posting this.. its a sad situation.

bvlenci

In Italy, and I'm sure in other places, a lot of the minors on the streets have run away from refugee centers. There are many reasons. Some are enticed away by traffickers. Some have family they want to reach. Some want to get to another country. Some maybe just think they'd be able to earn some money if they could get away from the refugee center. The numbers are indeed alarming, although some experts question the statistics.

Also, because unaccompanied minors automatically are granted refugee status, refugees in their 20s often try to pass themselves off as minors.

nochblad

Frankly what is all this post all about?

How do you recognize a homeless child on the street?

Call "Save the Children" - what number do you call when in Italy?

NewbE

I haven't a clue what this means, practically. The world is full of "unaccompanied minors" going about their business. How can I tell which ones to report??

sandralist

I don't want to discourage people from taking an interest in the perilous state of many refugees fleeing to Europe -- as many of 50 percent of them children, and a shocking number of the already shocking numbers are unaccompanied children.

But I want to also point out that there is also considerable reason for concern about accompanied minors, some of whom are being shepherded by sex traffickers. This is a problem that affects not just Italy but Europe as a whole, and the victims are not only refugees, but immigrants given legal papers but under the control of criminal organizations. But one example:

http://www.theguardian.com/global-de...l-bar-cannabis

At the root cause of this is both war and poverty, of which most elected officials in Europe in the US are fully aware but make no effort to do anything about (just the opposite in fact -- they continue problems that exacerbate the situation!)

As an aside, when my grandfather abandoned his family in the inner city of the US, my father dropped out of school to provide monetary support. The only "work" available in his impoverished neighborhood was working from criminal gangs, since children are rarely stopped by the police, and therefore make good couriers for contraband.

Global capitalism has brought about seemingly new forms of child exploitation, but it is actually a continuation of long-standing attitudes about children throughout the world. Very few are actually protected. This is not news, just evidence that people generally just turn away from ending poverty and war.

sandralist

This is a recipe for child exploitation. The vast majority of the poor in the world are children, who are hungry, need money and shelter, and are therefore easily victimized:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/...ation-combined

NewbE

I, for one, do not dispute the existence of the problem. I just question whether mobilizing tourists to call Save the Children is in any way productive.

nochblad

Sandralist - as many of 50 percent of them children

When you make such an assertion you reduce everything else you say to the level of the Daily Mail or New York Post or whatever.

I respect your personal history but try to keep to facts rather left wing Guardian/BBC claptrap

Christina

That article is poorly written and not good journalism. It's advocacy. And that's fine, but I notice it left out a crucial bit of information--how old was this "minor"? Did I miss it? Why presume this was a "little one"?

And if a minor is identified as an adult, you can presume they aren't small children.

Because I find this interesting that people are always telling parents on Fodors that they should let their teen minor children run around Europe on their own, that Americans are overprotective and that Europeans do this from about the age of 14 or something. And I recall the outrage in the US (it hit national news) by some when parents were cited for allowing their VERY minor children to roam around downtown Silver Spring MD on their own. IN fact, I think the kids were just picked up by cops as bystanders were concerned that these little kids were walking around on their own navigating a 6-lane highway (I live near there, so I know what it is like, outraged people writing in or on forums knew nothing about this location) and called the police because they were concerned. These kids were 10 at the most, as I recall, and the parents were letting them walk home alone from a park several miles from home, but not on a suburban street, in the middle of a very congested urban area.

SO you can't win. I don't see how people should be going around interfering with unaccompanied minors for no reason. Kids walking home from school, even high school, are "unaccompanied minors". I see lots of unaccompanied minors in fast food restaurants and cafes in Europe, and at home, and in stores and on the bus, etc.

Small children are another story, although there are lot of them in Europe who are scam artists and trying to pickpocket you.

sandralist

Yes, here comes Christina, one of the boards all-round meanest persons to young people of any sort. Just remember pookymimi, not only does no good deed go unpunished, but anybody raising issues about the darker sides of travel or not looking through rosy-glasses all the time about fun-fun-fun luxury consumer's Europe is going to get slammed.

nochblad

sandralist - da che pulpito

nochblad

translated - from which pulpit are you preaching

NewbE

Oh, come now. No one is slamming anyone. pookymimi is well intentioned, but her plea is utterly impractical.

welltraveledbrit

Perhaps not worth replying but neither the Guardian nor the BBC are claptrap.