EMN Inform: Missing unaccompanied minors in the EU, Norway and the UK , Date: 2020.04.27, format: report, area: Authority

Cover EMN Inform: Missing unaccompanied minors in the EU, Norway and the UK

The phenomenon of unaccompanied migrant children going missing has increasingly been in the focus of public attention in the EU. Several international organisations and European NGOs have raised concerns that the disappearance of unaccompanied minors is not always addressed in an effective manner.

European Migration Network (EMN), in collaboration with international organisations, EU agencies and NGOs mapped what policies and procedures are in place to register and follow up on cases of missing children. How is data on missing children collected in EU Members States, Norway and the UK? The Inform offers a comprehensive picture of how the phenomenon is tackled currently in the EU.

Key findings:

  • The information collected by the EMN for this Inform shows that many Member States do not have reliable or complete data on missing unaccompanied minors, and the data that does exist is not comparable. Therefore it is not possible to accurately quantify the scale of this phenomenon at EU level. However, the available data suggests that most of the missing unaccompanied children reported over the period 2017-2019 were over the age of 15, and the vast majority were boys. The three most frequently cited countries of nationality of missing unaccompanied children were Afghanistan, Morocco and Algeria.
  • The EMN Inform found that in almost all Member States there are elaborate procedures in place for dealing with unaccompanied minors going missing. The procedures are often identical or similar to the procedures for the national or European children who disappear.
    However, Missing Children Europe and Save the Children note that there are discrepancies between existing frameworks in place and the practice, for example, in the extent to which missing migrant children are followed up by the police.
  • The inform identified some gaps and weaknesses in the collection and updating of data on missing children, but also some good practices, such as data collection at centralized level, either at the reception centres level or by using a dedicated database on missing children.

Infographic on "Missing unaccompanied minors in the EU, Norway and the UK "Größer darstellen Click on the infographic to enlarge it.

The EMN Flash highlights few key findings and is available in English and German (see "Further information", tab "Downloads"). The EMN Inform offers a presentation of the comparative results at EU level.