International Alarm Over 14,000 Missing Nigerian Children

<h4>International Alarm Over 14&comma;000 Missing Nigerian Children<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that according to the latest figures shared by the International Committee of the Red Cross &lpar;ICRC&rpar; 64&comma;000 cases of disappeared persons have been reported across Africa&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In Nigeria alone&comma; over 25&comma;000 people have been reported missing&period; Almost 14&comma;000 or more than half of the missing are children&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;There are over 35 active armed conflicts in Africa at the moment&semi; thousands of people&comma; including children&comma; cross borders&comma; the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and better life each year&period; Such movements often entail great risk&comma; including the risk of disappearance&period; Documented cases of missing persons are on the rise&semi; however&comma; the ICRC warns that the actual figures are much higher&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Sadly&comma; the almost 14&comma;000 children registered does not capture the full scope of this often-neglected and tragic humanitarian issue&period; There is no doubt that there are more children whose fate remains unknown&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Yann Bonzon&comma; head of delegation for the ICRC in Nigeria&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;During displacement&comma; children face risks such as exploitation&comma; violence&comma; mental distress and disappearance&period; Many also end up alone&comma; with no news of their families&&num;8217&semi; whereabouts&period; The<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;"> ICRC<&sol;a> has more than 5&comma;200 documented cases of unaccompanied children in Africa&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Having the right policies in place can save lives&period; It is an essential step to protect migrants and families of missing persons&period; This is a question of humanity and human dignity&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Patrick Youssef&comma; the regional director for ICRC in Africa&period; Families of the disappeared face immense pain and obstacles that often transcend generations&period; They are stuck in limbo&comma; unable to move forward or grieve&period; The search for their loved ones never ends&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In 2022 from January to June&comma; the ICRC together with the Nigerian Red Cross Society &lpar;NRCS&rpar;&comma; assisted in the exchange of 1&comma;250 Red Cross Messages containing family news and reunited 31 separated children&sol;unaccompanied minors with their families while 440 phone calls were provided to families to maintain family contact&period; In addition&comma; families of 377 persons received information about the whereabouts or fate of their loved ones and 146 families of missing persons received psychosocial&comma; economic&comma; legal and administrative support through the Accompaniment Programme for Families of the Missing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Source&colon; Red Cross<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;