On the day Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi meets with Colonel Gaddafi of Libya at the G8 to discuss the future of Africa, Save the Children remains highly concerned about the policy of the Italian government to push back boats carrying migrants from Libya without any prior assessment of the protection needs of those on board, severely threatening the safety and lives of thousands of migrant children.

Save the Children fears that children using these boats to flee conflict and poverty in Africa – some as young as 14 - are now being sent straight back to Libya. This means they are denied the protection, healthcare and emotional support they need in Italy and are at risk of being locked up in Libyan detention centres when they are forced back.

Fosca Nomis, spokesperson for Save the Children, said: "Many of the children on the boats from Libya had been forced to travel thousands of miles, often alone, to escape conflict and poverty in countries such as Somalia, Eritrea and Nigeria. In ten months we received over 2,000 children entitled to receive protection in Italy. They were often exhausted, hungry, severely dehydrated and terrified after the journey. Many children have recounted harrowing stories, of rape and of having to see dead family members thrown out of the boat.

“Many of the child migrants had been locked up in adult detention centres before boarding the boats for Italy, and we are afraid they may be returned there when they arrive in Libya. Conditions are notoriously bad. Human rights organisations have persistently reported allegations of torture and ill-treatment at the centres in a country which has not signed the Geneva Refugee Convention.”

Italy’s blocking of migrant boats breaks not only Italian law but also international law, especially the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Save the Children was providing regular support to the migrant children arriving from Libya in Lampedusa and Sicily before this latest development. The aid agency urges Italy to put an immediate end to these kinds of actions, as this represents a severe violation of the fundamental human rights of children.

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Notes to editors

• The G8 contributions to maternal, child and newborn healthcare were last assessed in 2006 by The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health.
• G8 contributions to development are based on G7 contributions of Official Development Assistance from 2005-2008 as reported to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Development Assistance Committee OECD DAC. The figures for 2009-2010 are projections based on the trend of 2005-2008 figures. The 2005-2008 figures include debt relief and other fluctuations which donors include in their reports to OECD DAC but usually try to exclude when underlying trends are considered.