The number of unaccompanied migrant children in Latin America and the Caribbean is at a record high, UNICEF reports

A record number of unaccompanied minor migrants traveled through Latin America and the Caribbean this year, according to information estimates from UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Agency.

In the first 10 months of 2024 alone, only 3,800 children migrated alone through the Darien Gap, the treacherous jungle route between Colombia and Panama. This compares to 3,300 in all of 2023. According to UNICEF, children make up a quarter of migrants in the region.

Of the migrants who went to the United States last year, Office of Refugee Resettlement processed more than 118,000 unaccompanied minors.

UN officials are concerned about the increase in the number of children traveling alone in the region, said Anne-Claire Dufay, UNICEF’s deputy regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“When traveling alone, they experience higher rates of abuse, including sexual abuse, violence and exploitation, which negatively affects their physical and mental health and well-being,” said Dufay.

Armed violence faced by the region’s population not only drives migration, but also denies children rights and access to essential services such as education and health care, according to UNICEF.

The UN estimates that in 2025, 16 million children in the region will need education, health and protection services as a result of internal conflict, violence and climate-related disasters, which could cost US$819.8 million.

Providing aid to Haitian children alone would cost $271.2 million, UNICEF estimates. The constant political turmoil and gang violence in Haiti has caused tens of thousands displaced from the nation’s capital in recent months, and armed gangs have increasingly recruited children who, according to UNICEF now there are half of the gang members.

UNICEF is calling on the world’s governments and charities to provide a total of more than $9 billion next year to support the needs of the 109 million children affected by war and various crises around the world.