Ukrainian children fleeing the war are going missing, and many are in danger of being kidnapped by smugglers as 2.5 million refugees pile up at the borders, aid groups say.
Aid workers watch as desperate parents send many children alone to neighboring countries, with no one to meet them as they cross the border, according to The Guardian.
“Obviously, this is very disturbing for the child and can lead to the fact that he will wander around the station alone, disoriented and, in the worst case, disappear altogether. This, unfortunately, is not a hypothetical case – it has already happened,” said Karolina Wierzbinska, coordinator of Homo Faber, a human rights organization based in Lublin, Poland. “We are also already receiving reports of cases of human trafficking.”
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The nonprofit is warning refugees, especially women, about volunteers holding cardboard signs at border crossings and offering to take them across Europe.
A woman holds a baby as refugees queue for onward transport at the Medica border crossing. LOUISE GULIAMAKI
A Ukrainian child stands at the railing while waiting to board a bus in Medyka, Poland. SOPA Images
Desperate parents send many children across the border alone. SOPA Images
“My guess is that 90 percent of these men were well-meaning people who offered sincere help. However, the situation itself was extremely chaotic, potentially frightening for anyone, let alone the person already in trouble. We cannot rule out that some of the people in the crowd were just criminals waiting to take advantage of vulnerable women,” she said.