In a memo also due to a relevant discussion on 16 May at the House Human Rights Committee on the recent discovery that 14 underage children from the Pournara reception center have disappeared, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Cyprus stressed that “it imperative to immediately find unaccompanied children who are either victims of trafficking or are in increased danger due to their vulnerable situation.”
The possibility that some of these children, who have disappeared, are victims of trafficking is also mentioned in a relevant memo by Commissioner for Children’s rights Despo Michaelidou, submitted to the committee.
All services recommend the mobilization of the Police’s relevant department so that an investigation will begin to find possible networks aiming to take advantage of these vulnerable groups.
It is noted that during the period 2019-2022 nine children have disappeared from Pournara reception center, five from other centers, while two children have disappeared in 2015 and one in 2016.
