UN agency wants Trudeau to push G7 on unaccompanied refugee children
OTTAWA — The United Nations children’s agency is urging Justin Trudeau to press his fellow G7 leaders to do more to help vulnerable and isolated refugee children who face rampant sexual and physical abuse.
A senior UNICEF official wants the prime minister to push for progress on a serious aspect of the global refugee crisis — children travelling alone without adult supervision — while in Sicily later this month for the G7 summit.
“The Canadian government and the prime minister have spoken out very strongly on two big issues: one is around refugees and migrants and secondly, is around women and girls,” said UN Assistant Secretary General Justin Forsyth, the deputy executive director of UNICEF.
All G7 countries need to do more to address the exploitation of children crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Europe, Forsyth said in an interview.