translated from Spanish: Migrant Childhood – The Counter

Mr. Director:
As a society, it cannot leave to anyone indifferent the rawness of a situation which, unfortunately, has been replicated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic: the helplessness of migrant children and adolescents (NNA) who camp with their families in inhumane conditions, waiting to be able to return to their countries of origin.
The situation these people are experiencing is even more precarious because, as a result of the current health crisis, many have lost their jobs, so returning to their countries becomes their only way out of the problem.
And in this context, it is precisely children who suffer from a dual condition of vulnerability, because outdoor camping exposes them, not only to the contagion of the dangerous virus, but to dozens of other diseases and dangerous situations due to the cold, context through which no child should pass, nor their families, because it infringes their rights.
In addition, it should be emphasized that these children also suffer from their forced immigration status, so they require special protection that can lead to appropriate care for them.
It is urgent that the authority has a prosperous mechanism to safeguard the integrity of migrant children and vulnerable children, which in emergencies are often incomprehensible and unjustifiably unseenly unvisibilized.
Harry Grayde
Operations Manager World Vision Chile
 

Original source in Spanish