Hozier stars in campaign for child refugees
The campaign, called #10000MissingChildren also stars actor John Connors and TV presenter Blathnaid Treacy.
The initiative comes a year after the body of three-year-old Syrian Alan Kurdi was washed up on a Turkish beach.
Another catalyst for the campaign was a Europol report earlier this year, which stated that at least 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees had disappeared after arriving in Europe.
Many of the minors are feared to have fallen into the hands of organised trafficking syndicates, for exploitation in the domestic slave labour and sex trade markets.
“We started it after reading an article last spring (the Europol report) and we didn’t know what to do, but we knew we couldn’t just stand by and do nothing,” said Fiona Carey, of the Bray Refugee Solidarity Group, who is behind the campaign.
“There is a United Nations refugee summit being held this month (September 19) and we wanted to make some noise around that.
“We have also started a petition which we will present to the Justice and Home Affairs Council of Europe before their next meeting (October 13),” explained Ms Carey.
She also added that almost all of the Irish MEPs have signed a 200-word declaration on behalf of their group.
“They will present that at the European Parliament and we want to get it signed by the majority of the parliament,” she told the Irish Examiner.
These three actions are for the sole aim of getting EU member states to live up to a pledge they signed last year, promising to relocate and resettle refugees.
“Most EU member states pledged to take refugees and most have only taken a fraction of these, including Ireland,” Ms Carey said.
She explained that unaccompanied minors are targetted by smugglers when they arrive in hotspots in Greece and Italy. The smugglers promise them an easy, administrative-free route into Europe.
To sign the petition go to: https://you.wemove.eu/campaigns/10000-missing-children
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