EurActiv | 18.10.2017
Seven refugee children tried to kill themselves in Sweden last February, three of them succeeded. Mental health issues are widespread among migrant and refugee children across Europe, writes Karen Mets of the Save the Children EU Office.
Karen Mets
In the Greek hotspots, we have witnessed suicide attempts and self-harm among children as young as nine. As one young asylum-seeker put it: ‘Killing ourselves is better than being beheaded by the Taliban or ISIS in Afghanistan’.
Anxiety, depression, nightmares are all the result of the increased insecurity refugee and migrant children in Europe face in Europe. Children living in the hotspots fear they will never see family members in other parts of Europe. On the Greek mainland it can take up to two years for children to reunite with their family. Relocation of unaccompanied children has been slow and insufficient, with only 32 children relocated from Italy and 420 from Greece in the last two years.