Stunning images capture harsh reality of refugee crisis for children
A year after images of a drowned Syrian boy showed the tragedy of Europe's migrant crisis, powerful photographs continue to capture the perilous journey faced by refugees and the most vulnerable among them: children.
Child refugees, forced from their homes by violence throughout Africa and the Middle East, remain vulnerable to abuse and health risks. About 26,000 unaccompanied child refugees entered Europe last year, according to Save the Children. Almost 10,000 of those children have gone missing, the Independent reported.
Syrian refugees arrive on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey to Lesbos, Greece, on Sept. 9, 2015. Out of nearly 200,000 migrants who reached Greece, Spain and Italy this year, more than a third were under age 18.
A young Syrian girl sits on the tracks at the Serbian border with Hungary. Although shoeless, the little girl was in good spirits on September 13, 2015 in Roszke, Hungary. A record number of 4,000 people crossed the border the day prior, according to Getty Images.
Afghan refugees climb up to a field after arriving from Turkey to Lesbos, Greece, on a dinghy, on Sept. 9, 2015. Almost 60 million people have been displaced by war in countries to Europe's south and east, according to Save the Children.
A policeman touches the window playing with a child while migrants take a bus on September 13, 2015 in Schönefeld, Germany. More than 1 million refugees entered Germany in 2015, overwhelming authorities and stoking a backlash of anti-migrant sentiments. The number of child refugees reported missing in Germany doubled over the past six months, reaching almost 9,000, Quartz reported,
A migrant child sorts through a pile of donated clothes at a train station in Budapest, Hungary, on September 7, 2015. An estimated 18,000 crossed into Germany the prior weekend along the Balkan route, according to Getty Images. Thousands more followed the route running from Turkey through Greece and Hungary on its way north to Germany.
A Syrian refugee boy peers through a hole on a tent on November 15, 2015, at a makeshift camp by Taybeh village, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley. These makeshift camps became home to tens of thousands of refugees in Greece after Macedonia closed its border to the northwest this year.
Syrian refugee boy Mohammed Assaf, 9, jumps from a swing as he plays under cloudy skies at the public beach of Ramlet al Bayda in Beirut, Lebanon, on Nov. 4, 2015. Lebanon, along with Turkey and Jordan, has helped shoulder the biggest burden since the refugee crisis began, according to United Nations figures. The country has taken in more than 1 million refugees.
A woman stands next to a young girl gesturing in the refugee camp of Lagadikia, about 25 miles north of Thessaloniki, Greece, on August 25, 2016. Nearly 60,000 refugees remain in Greece's refugee camps, where migrants — especially children — face health and safety risks.
A young boy is pictured as migrants and refugees wait behind a gate for police to allow them to cross into Macedonia at the border near the town of Gevgelija on September 15, 2015. The month prior, thousands of migrants rushed past police into Macedonia after authorities tried to block them from entering from Greece.
A paramilitary police officer carries the lifeless body of Alan Kurdi, 3, after a number of migrants died and a smaller number were reported missing after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized, near the Turkish resort of Bodrum on Sept. 2, 2015. Kurdi's brother, Galip, 5, and mother, Rehan, 35, also died. His father, Abdullah Kurdi, survived. Photos of Kurdi's body became iconic, encapsulating the horrors of the migrant crisis.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Paste BN does not typically publish graphic images of dead bodies. It decided to use the photo in this story because it illustrates the significant horror of the situation as thousands of migrants risk their lives seeking refuge in Europe. Paste BN believes the news value of the photo outweighed the usual reluctance to publish such pictures.