Towards examining and addressing the danger of unaccompanied migrant minors going missing

Isabelle Brantl,Minas Pertselakis,Ariadni Michalitsi-Psarrou,Barbara Klein,Christos Ntanos,Danai Vergeti

doi:10.1057/s41599-021-00958-9

Abstract

The phenomenon of missing children is complex, further complicated by the specific circumstances of missing unaccompanied migrant minors. Owing to the (often forced) migration, these children have moved through different countries with diverse legislation and work practices. The international nature of these cases leads to confusion about the responsibility of different actors. Additionally, for these cases, little data are available. This article critically assesses current work practices in the EU. It also introduces a new practical solution based on empirical data from 26 international expert interviews, proposing a new alert system for missing children cases to improve the efficiency in responding to them and the international communication between stakeholders to improve the situation of missing unaccompanied migrant minors. The solution is currently in use by three organisations and has already been used in more than 85 real-life cases. It is concluded that it holds the potential to connect actors in a new, efficient way and prevent children, and unaccompanied migrant minors particularly, from falling off the grid. It is also highlighted that the situation of unaccompanied migrant minors is highly disadvantaged, and new, homogenous legislation among the EU member states that does not discriminate against the rights of migrant minors is imperative. New research should also actively involve them to better grasp their situation before and during their disappearance.

Highlights

Throughout history, the phenomenon of missing children1 has been perceived in various ways, ranging from a romanticised view of runaways as adventure seekers in a Huckleberry Finn type scenario (Slesnick et al, 2011, p. 276), to casting the missing child as a delinquent that requires state punishment (Zide and Cherry, 1992, p. 156)
Based on these numbers, Missing Children Europe (MCE) estimates that there are over 250.000 cases of missing children annually in the EU alone (MCE, 2021), with an estimated 8 million children going missing each year globally, according to the International Centre of Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) (Shankar and Gadkar, 2015, p. 115)
Unaccompanied migrant minors suffer from an increased risk of going missing and being victimised in the process due to several reasons, but not the least, because there is an overwhelming lack of interest in them, as showcased by the example from the interviewee who works in a German shelter for unaccompanied migrant minors: I had a first interview with a 12-year-old boy two weeks ago, and he was very shy and looked dishevelled.[...] This is a boy who was already in care in his home country and travelling through Europe for at least two years

Summary

Introduction

Throughout history, the phenomenon of missing children1 has been perceived in various ways, ranging from a romanticised view of (male) runaways as adventure seekers in a Huckleberry Finn type scenario (Slesnick et al, 2011, p. 276), to casting the missing child as a delinquent that requires state punishment (Zide and Cherry, 1992, p. 156). This article sets out to outline the specific situation of missing unaccompanied migrant minors in the EU, including the issue of a lack of reliable data and handling of their cases, as well as presenting the toolset that was developed in the EU-funded research project ChildRescue to address them.

Results

Conclusion