Germany’s federal police says the number of missing refugee children has doubled since the start of the year. Most of the children are aged between 14 and 17-years-old.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) has confirmed that by July 1, 8,991 unaccompanied refugee children and young people had been reported missing.
The figures, which were requested by the German daily “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung,” showed the number of migrants no longer in contact with authorities was already higher than for the whole of last year. The figure has doubled from January, when 4,749 refugees were known to be missing.
Although most of those who disappeared are teenagers, 867 of them are under 13 years old.
In February, the European police agency Europol estimated that at least 10,000 unaccompanied refugee children have gone missing after arriving in Europe. More recently, it said the number is now considerably higher.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) warned several months ago that unaccompanied minors from conflict zones are “by far the most vulnerable group among the refugees.” They are sent first to Europe, with their parents planning to join them at a later day, leaving them to fall prey to criminals.
