Child Refugee Crisis | UNICEF USA
Emergency Relief

Child Refugees and Migrants

 
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Every child, regardless of where he or she lives, has a right to a healthy, happy childhood. But today, 50 million children have been uprooted, fleeing conflict and poverty. Help save and protect children affected by ongoing crises.
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Children have a right to live full and productive lives, no matter where they are born. Join UNICEF in calling for legislation to help children and families who are fleeing violence and poverty at home. Find out how you can help.
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Across the globe, nearly 50 million children have been uprooted, forced to flee brutal conflict and extreme poverty. This figure includes millions of children caught in wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and South Sudan — and many other countries. This figure also includes children driven from their homes by violence or deprivation and forced to make difficult and dangerous journeys abroad, and children who are out of school and don’t know when they might return.

This child refugee crisis is the worst since World War II — a humanitarian emergency that demands immediate action. Whether these children are migrants, refugees, or internally displaced, they are all children first. They don't choose where they're born. They urgently need — and deserve — our help now. 

UNICEF is responding to this crisis across four continents. Children and families fleeing escalating violence in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Northern Africa rely on UNICEF deliveries of lifesaving supplies to stay healthy on their journeys. UNICEF is providing water and tents to create safe spaces for children moving through Europe. In Central America, children fleeing violence and abuse have UNICEF on their side, working to improve their lives.  

UNICEF is also using its decades of humanitarian expertise to help vulnerable immigrant children in the U.S. UNICEF USA and partners work to support and expand existing protection measures, which include alternatives to detention, advocacy and the strengthening of the sponsor system.

Agenda for Action

UNICEF uses a six-point plan to keep uprooted children around the world healthy and safe. But each point has a human story behind it. Check them out below.

Protect Displaced Children from Exploitation and Violence
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End the Detention of Refugee and Migrant Children
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Keep Refugee and Migrant Children Learning and Healthy
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Keep Families Together and Protect Unaccompanied Children
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Address the Root Causes that Force Children from Home
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Combat Xenophobia and Discrimination
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Child Refugee & Migrant Crisis

Children ride in the back of a truck fleeing Idlib in northwest Syria due to escalating violence.
Desperate Times for Children and Families in Syria
Escalating violence in northwest Syria amid harsh winter conditions has compounded an already dire humanitarian crisis in the country.
Children peer out from a tent at a settlement for displaced families who have fled violence in souther Idlib and rural Aleppo in northwest Syria in January 2020.
UNICEF Winter Clothes Help Syrian Children Weather the Cold
For parents who must choose between putting food on the table and heating their family's tent, the winter gear shipment was a lifesaver.
UNICEF works to help secure the release of child soldiers and support their recovery and rehabilitation as they transition back to civilian life.
'If We Want These Children to Stay Safe, There Are No Shortcuts'
Lack of funding threatens to shut down a vital UNICEF recovery program for former child soldiers in South Sudan.
Syrian refugee Bodoor, 17, attends a UNICEF-supported school in Azraq refugee camp in Jordan, where she has lived with her family since she was 12.
Growing Up in a Refugee Camp, Dreaming of the Stars
18-year-old Bodoor has her sights set on becoming an astronomer and Syria's first woman astronaut.
UNICEF is providing urgently needed support for migrant children and families stranded in tent encampments in Matamoros, Mexico, just over the red bridge from Brownsville, TX, as they wait for their asylum cases to proceed through the U.S. court system.
Children Stranded at the Mexico - U.S. Border Need Help Now
UNICEF is working to provide vital services to children and families trapped in limbo in the dangerous city of Matamoros, Mexico.
Families migrating from Central America to the U.S. set up makeshift camps in Tijuana, Mexico, one of the most violent cities in the world.
Immigration Policies Put Migrant Families at Serious Risk of Violence
Current policies prevent families from accessing their legal right to protection in the U.S. as they seek asylum.
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