Focus on unaccompanied children in Haiti

In any disaster situation, children are the most vulnerable as normal home and family structures break down. Every time I hear of the plight of unaccompanied children in Haiti (children separated from their parents or immediate family), which is every day now, I feel deeply saddened and think of my own two young children and how they would cope in that situation – not very well at all. Many children have been orphaned by the disaster and many, many more have lost family members.

A young injured unaccompanied girl rests in a field hospital in Port-auPrince

Together with losing all your possessions and secure home environment, this is a very traumatising experience and can cause permanent psychological damage. This is not even to mention the many thousands of children who have been physically injured by the disaster or those who were already in orphanages and institutions in Port-au-Prince which were destroyed by the earthquake. Some reports say there were already 200 orphanages in Port-au-Prince before the earthquake, each with 100-200 children.

To make matters even worse, almost unbelievably, there are people – men and women – in Haiti who are capitalising on the chaotic situation by trafficking children out of Haiti for cheap labour, as child sex workers, or being paid by illegal ‘adoptive parents’ . For an already badly traumatised child who has lost family members and their ‘normal’ life to end up in this situation is practically unthinkable – one that we’d rather block out.

The situation for unaccompanied children is being described as ‘urgent’ and ‘overwhelming’. The Haitian Government and humanitarian agencies such as Unicef are doing what they can. Identifying, registering and ensuring protection for unaccompanied children is top priority. Trying to locate the children’s parents or any relatives is a huge task, especially with such limited communication systems, but agencies like UNICEF  have their family tracing systems in place.

The identified children also need psychosocial support and counselling to minimise the chance of permanent psychological damage, not to mention clean drinking water, adequate sanitation and nutrition. And of course they need to be in a safe and protective environment, out of reach of the traffickers. There are 30 organisations working in a coordinated child protection response, together with the Haitian government, in the child protection ‘cluster’ to best meet all these needs. UNICEF, as lead of this child protection cluster, has a key role.

A Haitian volunteer helps an unaccompanied boy at the main hospital in Port-au-Prince

The Haitian Government also have key personnel at the airport and Dominican Republic border to ensure no child leaves the country without all the required legal documentation, and the Haitian Prime Minister has stated that all adoption papers must be signed by him personally.

UNICEF is supporting the establishment of safe child-friendly spaces for separated/unaccompanied children in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince which will cater for up to 200,000 children.

It is certainly a challenge, however UNICEF and it’s partner organisations are getting there and making a difference – without their hard work and commitment, the situation would be far worse for our most vulnerable citizens.

To support UNICEF’s disaster relief efforts for children, please donate online