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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Nearly 47 child migrants a day vanished in Europe since 2021, research | |
reveals | |
By Carlotta Dotto, CNN | |
Updated: | |
5:52 AM EDT, Tue April 30, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
Around 47 children vanish every day in Europe, according to showing | |
more than 50,000 child migrants went missing after arrival over the | |
past three years. | |
Data requested from 31 European countries, including Austria, Germany, | |
and Italy, show at least 51,433 unaccompanied refugee minors were | |
registered as missing between 2021 and the end of 2023. The actual | |
figure could be higher due to inadequate documentation of cases, with | |
some countries not collecting data on such children at all. | |
The research builds on findings released in 2021 that revealed at least | |
18,000 child migrants disappeared upon arrival in Europe in the three | |
years from January 2018 to December 2020. | |
Aagje Ieven, secretary general for Missing Children Europe, a | |
federation bringing together grassroots organizations across the | |
continent, said the increased number of reported cases revealed by the | |
research serves as a sharp reminder of the many instances yet to be | |
uncovered. | |
“More of the iceberg is becoming visible, and that is a positive | |
evolution,” she said, comparing the unreported cases to the bulk of | |
the ice below the water’s surface. Out of 31 contacted countries, | |
Lost in Europe received 20 responses, with seven lacking required data | |
and 11 not responding — representing an improvement from 12 responses | |
overall in 2021. Lost in Europe was able to find the data needed for | |
two of the countries that did not respond, Italy and Slovakia, in | |
official reports. | |
Italy and Austria lead in registrations of missing unaccompanied | |
minors, with 22,899 and 20,077 cases respectively, followed by Belgium, | |
Germany and Switzerland with between roughly 2,200 and 1,200 reported | |
cases. | |
However, higher numbers in Italy and Austria do not necessarily | |
indicate more cases, but that more efficient data collection systems | |
are in place, Ieven said. ” We need to get all of the countries to | |
more diligently report,” she told CNN, since children can be better | |
protected if they are in the system. | |
The fate of missing unaccompanied migrant children is worrying, Ieven | |
said. “They are at a higher risk of being targeted by traffickers, if | |
not already exploited by smugglers to pay off debts, or because they | |
hold control over their loved ones or their passports.” | |
Multiple factors contribute to the disappearance of migrant children. | |
There are concerns that some may have fallen prey to human traffickers | |
or been subjected to exploitation in the sex industry. Others disappear | |
voluntarily because they do not trust the authorities or to escape | |
unsafe reception conditions. | |
Many move to other countries to reunite with relatives or friends | |
without registering it, Ieven said. | |
Ieven pointed out that the scarcity of opportunities for minors makes | |
them vulnerable to exploitation, alongside the numerous traumas they | |
endure prior to reaching Europe. A 2022 Ghent University found that | |
84% of children experienced physical violence during their migration | |
to Europe, with over 90% witnessing it. | |
Children make up around 40% of the world’s displaced people, . While | |
fleeing wars and conflicts, thousands of children find themselves | |
separated from their families and relatives, and , sent ahead by | |
parents seeking to ensure their survival. | |
Afghanistan was the country of origin for at least one in three | |
unaccompanied minors who went missing in Europe between 2021 and 2023. | |
The number of Afghan children arriving there increased following the | |
Taliban takeover of power in August 2021. | |
Other significant countries of origin include Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, | |
and Morocco, according to the data collected by Lost in Europe. | |
Patricia Durr, chief executive of ECPAT UK, a children’s rights | |
organization, emphasized in comments to Lost in Europe that the | |
situation represents a crisis in child protection, “exacerbated by | |
punitive border policies and the lack of safe and legal routes for | |
children in Europe to move between member states safely.” | |
An Austrian Ministry of the Interior spokesperson noted that the | |
substantial influx of asylum applications from unaccompanied minor | |
refugees presents specific challenges regarding legal representation | |
and reception, Lost in Europe said. | |
As outlined in a 2020 by the European Union-funded European Migration | |
Network, most EU member states are mandated to report and register | |
missing children within 24 hours, yet, as Ieven highlighted to CNN, | |
this requirement is often not met. | |
Patricia Durr raised further concerns about the impact that the EU’s | |
new , by the European Parliament in April 2024, will have on children | |
on the move. “Measures such as including children within detention | |
for screening purposes is a clear breach of their rights under | |
international law and will increase their vulnerability to going | |
missing, abuse and trafficking,” she said. | |
According to Ieven, registering migrant children and acknowledging | |
their rights, including access to education, is crucial for their | |
safety. “What will keep them safe is understanding that there is a | |
future for them in the system, rather than outside of it,” she said. | |
Lost in Europe is a not-for-profit cross-border journalism project | |
investigating the disappearance of child migrants in Europe. | |
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