New York: Since August 14, hundreds of children have been separated from their families amidst chaotic conditions, including large-scale evacuations, in and around the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, according to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
According to her, the United Nations (UN) Children's Fund and its partners have registered approximately 300 unaccompanied and separated children evacuated from Afghanistan.
"We expect this number to rise through ongoing identification efforts," Fore said in a statement on Tuesday.
"I can only imagine how frightened these children must have been to suddenly find themselves without their families as the crisis at the airport unfolded or as they were whisked away on an evacuation flight," she added.
Fore said that all parties must prioritize the best interests of the child and protect children from abuse, neglect and violence.
“During tracing and reunification processes, children should be provided with safe, temporary alternative care, preferably with extended family members or in a family-based setting. Placement within institutional care arrangements should be a last resort and only temporary," she stated.
"Governments of countries where unaccompanied and separated children have family members should cooperate and facilitate reunification and safe, legal migration pathways for these children if it is in the child’s best interest. The definition of family members should be sufficiently broad to place unaccompanied children safely with relatives who will care for them. Likewise, children moving with trusted adults should remain with them if it is in their best interests to do so. Separating children from adults whom they know and from whom they receive care could cause further harm," she explained.
“All children have the right to be with their families. Parties involved in evacuating and hosting people fleeing Afghanistan should make every effort to prevent the separation of families from occurring in the first place. This means ensuring proper coordination among civil and military actors, establishing basic registration of children and families, and verifying flight manifests.
In Afghanistan, more than 550,000 people have been displaced by conflict, the majority in recent weeks, and 10 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
"All children have the right to be with their families. Parties involved in evacuating and hosting people fleeing Afghanistan should make every effort to prevent the separation of families from occurring in the first place. This means ensuring proper coordination among civil and military actors, establishing basic registration of children and families, and verifying flight manifests," she stressed.
"Now and in the days to come, it is imperative that all parties and the international community join us in prioritizing the wellbeing of children inside Afghanistan as well as those who have been evacuated," she concluded.
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