(ANSA) - ROME, JANUARY 28 - At least 50 adolescents live in the open, in abandoned buildings or makeshift shelters in Bosnia-Herzegovina without any protection and with serious risks to their health and safety.
This is the alarm launched by Save the Children about unaccompanied migrants under the age of 18 "left in the cold without the supervision of an adult".
"The minors who are facing the attempt to reach Europe alone - explains the organization - are part of the 2,500 migrants who, according to estimates, are scattered throughout the country without adequate accommodation. With temperatures dropped below zero at night, and Covid-19 infections that continue to rise, these adolescents spend their days and nights outdoors, exposed to the elements and the risk of abuse and violence ".
"I slept for two months in an occupied building, eating food I got from humanitarian organizations or some local citizens. It's too cold to be in buildings like this. We light fires to keep warm but then we can't breathe because of the smoke," he told Save the Children a 17-year-old boy in the city of Bihać.
According to official data, the organization explains in a note, "there are about 500 unaccompanied minors in various reception centers in the country, along with about 450 children with their families. After the closure of two large camps last year, the number of places available for refugees and migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina has drastically decreased. Migrant refugees, including children, can only be registered when they enter official reception facilities ".
(HANDLE).