News Center- More than 50,000 child migrants went missing upon arrival in Europe between 2021 and the end of 2023, according to new research by cross-border journalism collective Lost in Europe. At least 51,433 unaccompanied refugee minors were registered as missing between 2021 and the end of 2023, according to data requested from 31 European countries, including Austria, Germany, and Italy.

Numbers substantially increase

In 2021, Lost in Europe found that at least 18,000 unaccompanied minors had disappeared after arriving in Europe between 2018 and 2020. Their latest data in 2024 shows that the numbers have substantially increased.

According to the research, Italy has the highest number of registered missing unaccompanied minors, with 22,899, followed by Austria (20,077), Belgium (2,241), Germany (2,005), and Switzerland (1,226). “The number of missing children may be even higher because the data is often inconsistent and incomplete, and many countries in Europe do not even collect data on missing unaccompanied minors,” Lost in Europe said.

These figures have been described as “worrying” by Aagje Ieven, Secretary General of Missing Children Europe. “The increased number of reports on missing unaccompanied minors serves as a sharp reminder of the giant iceberg that looms beneath the surface,” AAgje Ieven told Lost in Europe.