THE question to the European Union’s senior policymakers was simple and it came from a 12-year-old Maltese boy in a wheelchair: “What is the EU doing about unaccompanied [refugee] children dying in the ocean?”

As Europe prepares for another summer of increased sea-crossings by desperate refugees and migrants and the bloc’s governments squabble on just how to respond to the humanitarian challenge, it was the questions and reactions — as well as the compassion, humanity and empathy — of children attending a human rights symposium in Brussels last week that really stood out.

The Maltese boy didn’t get a clear answer of course. The EU is trying hard to protect children, make sure there are safe routes into Europe and stop people traffickers. But authorities are overwhelmed by the high number of people seeking shelter in Europe. And while Europeans are mostly sympathetic to the plight of those in trouble, “compassion fatigue” appears to be setting in.

As the authorities grapple with refugee challenge, however, children showed another side of Europe: caring, trusting and welcoming. Other suggestions from young people included the launch of initiatives in EU member states to encourage young people to meet and help refugee children to integrate and the need for governments to pay more attention to the rights of refugee children, including unaccompanied minors, when they craft national and EU policies.

The focus on children is important. “There is a crisis of children’s rights,” according to Michael O’Flaherty, Director of the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). The number of children crossing the Mediterranean is incredibly high. More than a million refugees and migrants have entered the EU through Greece and Italy since 2015. Of these, 26 per cent were children, many of them unaccompanied.

“About 88 per cent of children coming to Italy by sea were on their own,” said O’Flaherty. The agency warns of the challenges facing governments — and the possibilities of violations of human rights — as they seek to prevent the detention of unaccompanied children, ensure their guardianship and prevent children from going missing from reception facilities.

In fact, as governments grapple with the crisis, human rights organisations worry that thousands have gone missing, with many fearing that they are lost to criminal gangs and prostitution networks.

“Lack of registration, inadequate accommodation, fear or experience of detention and ineffective guardianship can be factors in migrant children going missing”, said the 2017 FRA report.

“Human rights are under threat across the EU,” said O’Flaherty. “But the goodwill and support for the vulnerable in so many places around Europe should give us hope. We need to harness this positivity to ensure that human rights remain the bedrock of our societies. And we must do much more to show that human rights are not just for a select few, but for everyone.”

The warning comes as beleaguered Italian officials have warned that they might stop NGO vessels from disembarking rescued migrants on its territory after a recent surge in arrivals. The measure would affect all non-Italian flagged boats, except those operated by Frontex, the EU’s border control agency, and Sophia, an EU naval operation in the Mediterranean.

Italy has seen the arrival of 12,000 people in the past few days, pushing the figure so far this year to more than 80,000 — a double digit increase on the same period last year. “This year we are witnessing levels never registered before in short periods of time,” according to Frontex director Fabrice Leggeri.

EU officials say that other countries in the bloc “must deliver” help to Italy on the basis of recent decisions. But an EU scheme to redistribute asylum seekers from Greece and Italy has run into opposition from Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic which are refusing to take their share of the “burden”.

The European Commission has in fact taken the three states to court in order to ensure their compliance with the decision to redistribute migrants more fairly across the bloc.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea says people in distress must be rescued and put on shore “as soon as reasonably practicable”, making Italy and its islands responsible for those leaving from Libya. Experts say the “Libyan route” has attracted more people after EU states closed borders on the Western Balkan corridor and did a deal with Turkey to keep Syrian refugees from going to Greece.

The FRA symposium discussed the need for resettlement through private sponsorship schemes (such as those implemented in Canada), the introduction of child-friendly asylum procedures, the use of guardians and better reception and accommodation. “These children have names and dreams,” said Fredrik Malmberg, the Swedish Ombudsman for children.

But as the refugees and migrants keep coming to European shores, for most EU leaders and governments, the focus is on stemming the numbers, not on names, hopes and dreams.

The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Brussels

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2017