“If there was a better way, no one would risk their lives at sea. But there is no alternative. So we risk our lives.”
These are the words of a 15-year-old boy from Guinea, who was rescued as an unaccompanied minor at sea by Berlin-based NGO, SOS Humanity.
The organisation, which has been rescuing refugees and migrants at sea for the past decade, warns that more and more children and minors are being sent to Europe alone from Libya or Tunisia in overcrowded boats that are often unseaworthy. About one-fifth of those rescued are minors.
Esther, a German clinical psychologist, volunteered as a mental health officer on Mediterranean rescue missions in November and December 2024.
During a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday, Esther did not reveal her surname, but said that six boats carrying 347 people had been rescued during their time at sea. Of those, 43 were young people, mostly unaccompanied minors, who had poor physical and mental health.
“They were often at sea for several days and nights without food or drink, were dehydrated, seasick and often burned from fuel and salt water. Many also had scabies or other infections and wounds because they had been held in camps in Libya for long periods of time. They were all “emotionally exhausted”, he said.
Children in grave danger in Libyan camps
Conditions in Libya’s detention camps – where people stopped by the country’s coast guard are returned after failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea – are devastating, especially for young people.
For years, Libya – which is expected to take over border controls and drastically reduce the number of migrants as part of a multimillion-euro deal with the EU – has faced intense criticism for serious human rights violations.
“Young people told me about cases of extreme sexual violence, torture, child labour, losing relatives and human trafficking involving women,” said Esther. “Some of these young men showed me physical evidence of what they had gone through. Some had marks of torture on their bodies, as well as photographs and videos taken in Libyan camps that showed them tied up and beaten.”
More than 3,500 minors were reported dead or missing.
Minors who manage to escape the camps face even greater danger during the crossing.
According to UNICEF estimates from April, some 3,500 children have died or disappeared while attempting to reach Italy via the central Mediterranean route over the past 10 years. This means approximately one child dead or missing every day for an entire decade.
In this statement, SOS Humanity has called for the immediate end of EU cooperation with Libya and Tunisia.
“The proportion of minors among those fleeing has been steadily increasing over the past 10 years. Almost a fifth of all people arriving in Italy are minors. In our rescue, the average is more than a third,” said Till Rummenhohl, managing director of SOS Humanity.
He added, “Recently we had a whole boatload of 120 minors. They were completely terrified young people who were traveling alone and jumped into the water in fear of the Libyan coast guard.”
Trump’s USAID cuts will have dramatic consequences
Laina Idris, head of SOS Children’s Villages Worldwide, warned that the growing number of children and teenagers making the dangerous journey to Europe could lead to a worse future. Reason: The US government led by President Donald Trump has disbanded the development assistance agency USAID, with dramatic consequences.
In a study published this summer in the Medical Journal The Lancet calculation USAID cuts could result in more than 14 million deaths globally over the next five years, including 5 million children under the age of 5. Germany has also cut its development aid by about €1 billion ($1.2 billion).
“We are entering a vicious cycle that will cause more children to take this path,” Idris said, citing Somalia as an example. “The country was 80% dependent on USAID. Last year, we reached 4.5 million children and adolescents in Somalia; this year, only up to 1.3 million. Why? Because the camps built to assist these children have been empty since the summer.”
Vera Magali Keller heads a law firm in Berlin that specializes in supporting humanitarian organisations, including those carrying out maritime rescue operations.
Children and youth should be given priority protection and evacuation during sea rescues, the lawyer told DW, referring to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which all UN member states have committed themselves.
“In many European countries, there are special possibilities to obtain the rights of residence, protective rights and family reunification. For example, in Italy, these often apply until the age of legal adulthood. As a general rule, children and adolescents should be kept separate from adults and given special protection. Detention should be avoided wherever possible,” Keller said.
German government cuts funding for maritime rescue
SOS Humanity has announced plans to deploy another rescue ship to the Mediterranean in 2026. The ship will operate primarily off the coast of Tunisia, searching for migrant boats and monitoring human rights violations.
To do this, the sea rescue organization will rely on donations, as the German government has stopped its annual €2 million funding for civilian sea rescue. This is one reason why Keller is pessimistic about the future.
“Given the current political and legal developments, I do not see any positive prospects,” he said. “I fear that under the current coalition the criminalization and repression of civilian maritime rescue will intensify. The already disastrous protection and reception standards for refugees in Europe will likely continue to deteriorate.”
This article was originally written in German.