Dozens of unaccompanied child refugees missing in 'Calais Jungle'
More than 100 unaccompanied children have gone missing in the "Calais Jungle" in France.
The encampment located in the northern French town of Calais is home to economic migrants, asylum seekers and refugees attempting to enter the United Kingdom. Last month, its southern section was demolished and since then, 129 unaccompanied children have been unaccounted for. The absence of the minors was discovered after non-profit organization Help Refugees UK conducted a census.
"We are deeply shocked and very concerned to report that 129 unaccompanied minors cannot be accounted for," the organization said in its website.
The group said that children with no companions were given no alternative accommodations after the demolition. There were no safeguarding procedures or registration system put in place.
"This is simply not acceptable," they said. "We call on the French authorities to put systems in place immediately to register and safeguard the remaining 294 lone children in the camp."
One of the missing kids is an 11-year-old Afghan child named Kareem who Yvette Cooper, a writer for The Independent, met a couple of weeks before he disappeared. Cooper said that Kareen had been there a few months, enduring the hardships of being alone and risking abuse, prostitution, among other dangers. Aid workers have told the publication previously that boys were being raped in the encampment.
According to the group, Interpol has already reported more than 10,000 refugee minors already missing in Europe, and they are urging the French government to ensure that the kids in Calais and Dunkirk don't add to those numbers.
The Independent reports that there are still 4,432 adults and 514 children in Calais including the 294 unaccompied minors. The youngest child is a month old, the youngest unaccompied child is 8 years old, and the average age of minors is 14.2 years.
Those living in the container housing units put up by the French government total 1,400; those in Jules Ferry number 170; and those who live in tents and shelters in the main camp total to 3,376.
