SAFETY TIPS FOR TRAVELING ABROAD WITH CHILDREN
To protect yourself and your child abroad, it is important to follow simple tips.
UNICEF and the experts at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine suggest the following tips to keep safe:
✅ Teach your children their full names, your full name, and your phone number. Have them practice repeating it. For very small children and some children with disabilities, (e.g. children with hearing or speech impairment) prepare an identity tag (like a bracelet or something attached to their clothing) with the child’s name and your contact details.
✅ Identify a meeting point and plan to go there in case you get separated from your children. If feasible, explore accessible path for children who use mobility devices.
✅ For children with mobile phones, save your contact as 'AA Emergency Contact 1' and that of a trusted loved one as 'AA Emergency Contact 2,' etc.
✅ Talk to your children about the potential risks of traveling and encourage them to share with you anything that may be worrying them.
❌ Don’t allow your children to be taken out of your sight or to any location without you. Stay together, no matter what. Children can only be left responsibly in the care of official organizations.
✅ If anyone is acting or threatening to act violent against you or your children, seek immediate safety before informing the authorities.
✅ While traveling, hold your child's hand or take other precautions to keep them close.
❌ Beware of anyone offering you a job, shelter or education for your children. Don't accept offers of services or support from anyone other than an authorized official.
✅ Take photos of important documents certifying your identity and the identity of the child. Send copies to your email so you can access them if you lose your phone.
✅ Always hold your documents and never give them away. Apart from public authorities, for example at border checkpoints or in the official asylum registration centre, no one should ask for your documents. Do not hand them over for bail, documentation or registration.
✅ Only trust representatives of the authorities, non-governmental, or international organizations. As a rule, officers and volunteers of official institutions wear a uniform and a badge. If in doubt, do not hesitate to ask for a document certifying the person's affiliation with the organization.
✅ Meet strangers in public places. Alert your family and friends about the meeting, including time and place. Update them regularly with your safety status.
✅ Talk to the child about what to do if they get lost. Advise them to stay put, look for people in uniform who can help, do not panic, and do not go anywhere with other adults unless they are police or other people in uniform.
✅ Only gather travel information from official sources. Visit embassy and consulate websites, their pages in social networks (they must be verified, i.e. marked with a blue tick), migration services and international migration organizations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Department of Security and Insurance.
✅ If you and your child are in danger, contact emergency services and the Embassy of Ukraine. In the EU, the emergency phone number is 112.
✅ If you are a child, young person or care for a child, you can call a child helpline to get help, advice, counseling and support. Visit a Child Helpline for more information.
Remain aware of the risks of violence and where you can find help:
- Violence is not only physical and its signs are not always immediately visible. Violence can be emotional, economic, physical and sexual
- Remember that you are not alone and it is not your fault. It is natural to feel distressed after experiencing violence. Professionals are available to help coping emotionally with these experiences.
- If you are in immediate danger, call the emergency services at 112 and try and go somewhere safe. Tell someone you trust, such as a parent, a guardian or a teacher. Consider reporting to the police, when ready.
- Legal advice can also provide guidance on protective measures and help pursue justice through the legal system.
- You can get confidential support from anti-violence helplines across the EU. Please visit Helplines in Europe
Remain aware of the risks of trafficking
Many people will offer their help, but not everyone is on your side. There may be people who want to take advantage of your situation and are traffickers:
- Trafficking involves the movement or reception of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.
- Men, women and children of all ages and from all background can fall victim to trafficking
- Traffickers often use violence or fake employment agencies and face promises of education and job opportunities, in order to trick and force their victims.
- If you are in immediate danger, call the emergency services at 112 and try and go somewhere safe. Tell someone you trust, such as a parent, a guardian or a teacher.
- You can get support from anti-trafficking helplines across the EU. Please visit Anti-trafficking hotlines in EU
If you are a refugee receiving humanitarian aid, you have the right to be protected from exploitation and abuse by those who provide humanitarian assistance. No one should ever ask for anything in return, especially not anything of a personal nature, and nothing that makes you feel uncomfortable. Remember, you have the right to report any inappropriate behavior from humanitarian aid staff. If you experience or witness any inappropriate behavior by a humanitarian worker, remember you can write to UNICEF at integrity1@unicef.org.
Learn more about safe accommodation and transport on Digital Blue Dot.
Explore the Bebbo app from UNICEF, it is your pocket partner in parenthood. Bebbo offers a wide range of parenting tips and other useful resources for parents and caregivers of children aged 0-6 years old, including information about supporting children in transport. It’s available in multiple languages, including Ukrainian. It is free to use and you can download it on Google PlayStore / Apple AppStore.
