Roughly 47 children go missing daily in Europe, as per the latest findings from the international journalistic network Lost in Europe. This research reveals that at least 51,433 unaccompanied minors disappeared after arriving at a facility between 2021 and 2023.
Data was requested from 31 countries, but only 13 provided it. Seven, including Greece, responded but did not offer useful information for the survey. In total, 11 countries did not respond at all.
The research suggests that the actual number of disappearances may be higher due to insufficient incident recording, with some countries failing to collect any data on these children altogether.
The Ministry of Migration and the Hellenic Police do not retain the requested information, while in a survey conducted from 2018 to 2020, the data was provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Italy and Austria are at the forefront, with over 20,000 disappearances each, followed by Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.
At the network’s request to the Greek Ministry of Migration and the Hellenic Police, the authorities responded that they do not gather the requested data. Meanwhile, the Federation of Societies, involved in the survey, stated that it couldn’t identify any service that retains such information. In a similar survey in 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had provided the data requested.
What is fyi.news?
