Why her story has become so important
"The publicity surrounding the discovery of the little
blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl called "Maria" in theRoma camp in Greece has
brought hope to tens of thousands of parents around the world who have children
that are still missing. However, her story is about more than one
child. Little Maria has become a symbol of a larger problem – the well
being of millions of children.
Maria was found resulting from the quick actions of law
enforcement in Greece .
Her extraordinary story has prompted a worldwide effort to determine who she
is, where her family is and whether she is an abducted or trafficked
child. Her story has awakened a global audience and she has millions of
people anticipating the resolution of her mystery. The search for her
identity is providing hope for many others as thousands of searching parents of
other missing children are hoping that their child might still be out there and
recoverable.
The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, (ICMEC), commends the quick actions that were taken by law enforcement in the region of Larissa, Greece that led to the discovery of little Maria. While the search goes on, the Greek Public Prosecutor removed Maria from the Roma camp and she is now being housed and cared for in a Smile of the Child facility in
Working with national authorities, The Smile of the
Child is leading the global effort to identify this little girl. The
Smile of the Child is an extraordinary organization that provides services
to children in crisis. The organization is also a partner of the
International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.
The President of The Smile of the Child, Costas Yannopoulos,
is a member of the ICMEC Board of Directors and was the driving force behind
the creation of the Southeastern
European Center
An estimated 8 million children are reported missing each
year around the world. Another 2 million children will be victims of
commercial sexual exploitation. The discovery of Maria reinforces the
important role law enforcement plays in discovering these child victims.
To address the unique issues surrounding international
abductions and child sexual exploitation, ICMEC provides advice, training and
support to governments, policy makers, law enforcement, prosecutors, industry,
civil society and others across the globe. ICMEC has built a Global
Missing Children's Network which currently includes 22 nations, trained law
enforcement in 121 countries and worked with parliaments in 100 countries to
enact new laws on child pornography.
Together with our partners at The Smile of the Child and Missing
Children Europe, we urge people everywhere to look at the photo of Maria,
provide any information they might have to authorities and help us identify her
and bring her home."
The International Centre for Missing & Exploited
Children is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental
organization. It is the leading agency working internationally to combat
child abduction sexual abuse and exploitation. The organization has built
a Global Missing Children's Network of 22 nations, trained law enforcement in
121 countries and worked with parliaments in 100 countries to enact new laws on
child pornography, ICMEC works in partnership with INTERPOL, the
Organization of American States and the Hague Conference on Private
International Law among others.
For more information about ICMEC, please
visit www.icmec.org
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