Submitted by crinadmin on
Thousands of children, in Europe without their parents, disappear every year from lodging/reception centres without a search procedure being set in motion. This is revealed by a study presented in Brussels and Geneva by Terre des hommes - Child Relief, after twelve months of investigations carried out in four European countries among professionals in charge of these minors. In Switzerland as in Belgium, Spain or France, non-accompanied minors leave the institutions they are placed in or run away without leaving any trace. The authorities often renounce to actively search for them, with no regard for their protection. Judges in charge of minors or managers within migratory authorities estimate that up to half of the children from abroad, separated from their families, disappear in this way. The numbers of non-accompanied minors give rise to uncertain statistics: in 2008, there were 631 in the area of asylum alone (not including those without papers) in Switzerland, 1,393 were reported in Belgium, 5,000 estimated on French soil, no figures were available from Spain. In his preface to the study, the Vice President of the United Nations’ Committee on Child Rights, Jean Zermatten, raises the triple vulnerability of those concerned: as children, foreigners and non-accompanied. He emphasised: "... they have a right to the same attention and benefits as all the other children in care (...). If thus a child, whatever his status, and for whatever reason, disappears from an institution, every usual procedure must be set in motion: the responsibility of the institution and that of the State is involved." The study also lists the particular risks to which separated children are exposed: lack of hygiene, psychological deterioration, drug trafficking, forced delinquency, labour exploitation, sexual exploitation ... sadly, there is plenty of evidence of the reality of these dangers.