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The European Union has contributed over US$ 690,000 to support UNICEF’s work to protect the rights of children affected by migration in Bangladesh.
The contribution will directly reach an estimated 12,000 children over the next three years who are migrating or have been forcibly displaced within their own countries or across borders, according to a statement of UNICEF on Monday.
The programme is being implemented across multiple regions of UNICEF operations in Southeast, South and Central Asia and will also reach children affected by migration including children left behind by parents or caregivers who have migrated often in search of better economic opportunities to support their families.
In Bangladesh, the project will focus on issues of internal and cross border migration of children including children who are at risk or survivors of trafficking.
It is expected that many more children will benefit through policy changes that will strengthen child protection systems.
“Poverty, physical or sexual abuse, and peer influence are the three major factors that push children to migrate from rural to urban areas and to further risk of trafficking. These children are deprived of essential services,” said Edouard Beigbeder, Representative, UNICEF Bangladesh.
“UNICEF has always been there with its partners to ensure essential services to these most vulnerable children. Thanks to the European Union for this generous contribution, which will help to better protect children on the move,” he added.
According to official estimates, there is evidence of Bangladeshi children and women been trafficked from Bangladesh to India. Bangladesh reported around 5000 of Bangladeshis who have been identified in 2014 and 2015 in India and the Middle East.
Bangladesh is also hosting a large number of Rohingya population that entered into Bangladesh to escape from persecution by the Myanmar government in Rakhain state of Mayanmar.
Since August 2017, 605,000 people have crossed the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar. As many as 60 per cent of these are children.
Many of these children have been separated from their parents and are at risk of trafficking.
Internal migration of children is also very high in Bangladesh. Around 600, 000 street children are living in the street of which 380,000 are between the ages of 5 and 14.