AN ACADEMIC from York is supporting a UNICEF campaign urging world leaders to work together on child migration.
Dr Simon Parker, director of the University of York’s School of Social and Political Sciences, was one of four experts to contribute to UNICEF Innocenti’s Research Watch - an online resource for international policy analysts and researchers to look at current ideas and help work around UNICEF’s new global migration report.
So far, the Research Watch project has provided videos, commentaries and in-depth podcasts, and has been released to coincide with President Barack Obama’s Leaders’ Summit on Refugees today.
Dr Parker said: “Since the tragic death of Alan Kurdi last year, more than 5,700 people have died trying to escape from the violence of war, persecution and poverty around the world.
“Our research confirms that by denying children safe and legal routes to escape conflict zones, European states are contributing to the loss of more lives at sea and trapping children in unsafe and harmful environments.” Dr Parker said world leaders should put the “safety of refugee and migrant children” on their agenda.
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