Mapping Children on the Move within Africa possible until they reach the Sahel countries. Until then they travel largely by bus. Once in Niger or Mali, it is possible to travel onwards using similar means without requiring assistance. For some stretches of the journey, however, assistance of smugglers is sought. People on the move can seek the assistance of smugglers on several occasions during their trip. For instance, crossing from Niger to Libya could require the use of smugglers until they reach a Libyan town. There parts of the journey could be further undertaken by bus while smugglers are required for some stretches (e.g. the route between Kufra and Benghazi or Tripoli requires the use of both busses and smuggler services in order to avoid detention). In other words, the journey is undertaken in phases and the role of smugglers increases the closer the people get to the Algerian and Libyan borders.372 Systematic data on how children on the move travel is absent. However, there is evidence through interview notes by IOM and UNHCR indicating that children on the move tend to use the same approach, for those unaccompanied teenagers having traveled by bus with the support of their families and working in transit towns to be able to travel onwards and paying smugglers. Source: IOM, January 2018373 Increasingly, children are travelling alone. UNICEF estimates that unaccompanied and separated children made up 75% of all children (largely of African origin but not exclusively) arriving in Italy by sea through the CMR in 2015. In 2016, their numbers rose to 92% of total arrivals. The numbers remained at this level in 2017. Most of these children came from Eritrea, the Gambia, Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea.374 March 2018 figures of children travelling through North Africa and crossing the Mediterranean through the CMR into Italy shows a frightening number of children crossing unaccompanied (see Figure 8). It is however not clear whether they have travelled from their country of origin unaccompanied or whether they were indeed accompanied but were separated at sea or prior to boarding boats. 372 373 374 IOM. 2017. Rapport de profilage des migrants: Niger. Idem. P16. IOM. Points de Suivi des flux de population: Mali. January 2018. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lzw0H0dwkbUn5K-SNiD3vShQ0xjFrvHo/view Last accessed: 7 June 2018. UNICEF (n 166 above) P11. 67