site.bta370 Child Refugees Have Sought Protection in Bulgaria in 2017, Only One-Third Enrolled in School

Sofia, November 3 (BTA) - A total of 370 applications for the protection of unaccompanied under-aged refugees were submitted in Bulgaria in January-September this year, and only one-third of these child refugees are enrolled in school, Vice President Iliana Iotova said at the opening of a conference on "The Young in Europe: The Better Europe" in Sofia on Friday.

Nearly 50 million children in the world have been banished, and 28 million of them have had to settle away from their homes due to a conflict, Iotova said. The number of child refugees and migrants who run on their own has increased five-fold compared to 2010, she went on to say, specifying that in 2015-2016 over 300,000 unaccompanied children or children separated from their parents were registered in 80 countries, compared to 66,000 children in 2010-2011.

There are over one million child refugees in Turkey, and 92 per cent of those arriving in Italy are unaccompanied, Iotova also said.

The Vice President noted the importance of young people's participation in solving one of the biggest challenges: the refugee wave. In her words, in 2013-2017 the EU policies were directed primarily at the topic of security and the question of how to close the migration routes and build walls, instead of the question of how to welcome these people, the majority of whom were running in search of safety and a future for their children. "This big talk has not started yet, but I hope it will today," Iotova added.

Featuring on the conference's agenda was the social inclusion of young refugees in education, the job market, and society as well as the role of youth organizations in this process.