Investigation finds one in six were solo and under 15, as experts say cross-border cooperation ‘nonexistent’

A child migrant waiting for a train to Serbia at Gevgelija, on the Macedonian-Greek border. Last year alone, 5,768 children disappeared. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty

At least 18,000 unaccompanied child migrants have disappeared after arriving in European countries including Greece, Italy and Germany.

An investigation by the Guardian and the cross-border journalism collective Lost in Europe found that 18,292 unaccompanied child migrants went missing in Europe between January 2018 and December 2020 – equivalent to nearly 17 children a day.

In 2020 alone, 5,768 children disappeared in 13 European countries.

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Most of the children who have gone missing over the past three years came to Europe from Morocco, but Algeria, Eritrea, Guinea and Afghanistan were also among the top countries of origin. According to the data available, 90% were boys and about one in six were younger than 15.

The investigation, which collated data on missing unaccompanied minors from all 27 EU countries, as well as Norway, Moldova, Switzerland and the UK, found the information provided was often inconsistent or incomplete, meaning the true numbers of missing children could be much higher.

Spain, Belgium and Finland provided figures only up to the end of 2019. Denmark, France and the UK provided no data at all on unaccompanied missing children.

The findings of the investigation raise serious questions about the extent European countries are able or willing to protect unaccompanied child migrants.