According to her, the number of juvenile refugees has been rising sharply in recent years – before 2020, there were on average over 18,000 of them.
Journalists from the Italian agency ANSA, the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, the Dutch NRC and the German radio and television station rbb24 participated in the data search.
They counted a total of 51,433 minor migrants with whom the authorities of individual countries lost contact between 2021 and 2023.
“Minors from abroad who go missing are often victims of the criminal underworld or exploiters,” Carla Garlatti of Italy’s child protection agency told ANSA. “At one center for minor girls, we were told that one or two young girls go missing every night, and that there are often cars parked in front of the door with people offering the girls jobs,” she added.
The actual number of underage refugees who have disappeared from the authorities’ sight will be significantly higher: the authorities responded to journalists’ questions in only 15 of the 31 countries addressed. Of these, by far the largest number of children listed as missing were in Italy (almost 23,000) and Austria (over 20,000). For example, Spain or Greece, which also face a large influx of migrants, including minors, do not keep similar statistics at all.
In the European Union, there are still no uniform rules for the registration and exchange of information on minor migrants. This is also why European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson was unable to confirm the journalists’ information. “I can’t judge if your numbers match. I can say that we have a dysfunctional migration system in Europe,” she told rbb24 television.
A record 68.5 million refugees wandered the world last year
World
