UNICEF Report: 28 Million Children Worldwide Are Refugees

Around 28 million children have been forced to leave their homes due to armed conflicts and violence worldwide, according to a UNICEF report released on Wednesday, reports the Patria News Agency.

The figures include 10 million refugee children and 17 million internally displaced children. The UNICEF report states that a total of 50 million children are either refugees, internally displaced, or migrants seeking a better life abroad who have left their own country due to violence and poverty.

In the report, UNICEF calls on countries to first see underage refugees as children who are extremely vulnerable to violence and exploitation.

Children make up about half of the total number of refugees who sought shelter abroad in 2015, and 45 percent of refugee children under UN care come from Syria and Afghanistan.

The number of children traveling alone in 2015 increased to 100,000, which is triple the number from 2014. These unaccompanied children, who are at risk of abuse and exploitation, sought asylum in 78 countries in 2015. Around 20 million of these children are classified as migrant children who have left their homes due to poverty and gang violence, often traveling without documents or any status.