This is an overview of remarks by Nicola Dell’Arciprete, UNICEF Country Coordinator in Italy – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
GENEVA, 15 April 2025 – "Ten years ago, around 1,050 people climbed aboard a flimsy wooden boat in Tripoli, Libya - a boat roughly the length of a tennis court. Many of them were fleeing war and conflict. They were hoping to reach safety in Europe. Instead, as night fell, their overcrowded boat went down, killing 1,022 people. Only 28 survived.
"Despite promises of “never again” following the 2015 disaster, an estimated 3,500 children have since died or disappeared attempting the same journey to Italy - a rate of roughly one child every day. In total, more than 20,800 lives have been lost on this perilous route.
"We know these figures are likely underestimates. Many shipwrecks go unrecorded, and many leave no survivors. In many cases it is impossible to verify the ages of those who die. The true number is likely much higher.
"Children account for nearly 17 per cent of those who make it across the Central Mediterranean to Italy. And of these, around 70 per cent are travelling alone, without a parent or legal guardian.
"Children arriving in Europe have fled from war, conflict, violence or extreme poverty. They have been in danger all the way - constantly at risk of exploitation and abuse.
"In desperation, they have taken potentially lethal risks to reach a safe haven. Many have put their lives in the hands of traffickers who have just one concern: money. Not safety. Not morality. Money.
"I saw this last week in Lampedusa, where there are children who had been crammed into dark, unventilated cargo holds. Some arrived in Italy with burned skin, caused by prolonged contact with fuel.
"This is the price of the lack of safe, legal pathways - a price that is paid by children. And it keeps the money flowing into the pockets of the traffickers.
"UNICEF is working on the ground in Italy with the Government and other partners to meet children’s immediate needs, and support their long-term integration into the communities where they now live. And we work in their countries of origin to ease the impact of the problems that fuel global refugee and migrant movements - from poverty to climate change and conflict.
"Now governments must do more. We call on them to use the Migration and Asylum Pact to prioritize the best interests of children. We call on them to ensure coordinated search and rescue, safe disembarkation, community-based reception, and access to asylum services. Ultimately, together we must do more to address the root causes in children's countries of origin that force them to risk their lives in the first place.
"We call for more investment in services for children - because every child in every reception centre is entitled to exactly the same rights and services as a child born in the European Union.
"We are entering the peak time of year for arrivals. In Lampedusa, I learned that around 1,000 people had arrived in recent days, including eighty unaccompanied children. The situation there is currently under control, and transfers are being managed fairly swiftly and efficiently. But there are concerns about where unaccompanied children are being sent, how long they stay in first-reception facilities and what happens when arrivals increase – inevitably – as we move into summer.
"A decade on from a tragedy that was meant to change everything, the reality is clear - the promises of “never again” have not been kept. With more children risking their lives to reach safety, the urgency to act with principle and resolve has never been greater.
"We need action now."