An increasing number of young asylum seekers in Belgium alone have gone missing so far this year, nearing a doubling of last year's figure.
Child Focus, the charity for missing children, registered 244 disappearances of unaccompanied minors so far this year, almost double the number recorded in 2022 when there were 136 such cases, De Morgen reported on Wednesday.
The increase is worrying as Child Focus mainly receives reports from very vulnerable profiles, such as children under 13, for example, or children who lack the necessary self-reliance or whose lives are in danger. The total number is likely even higher because not Child Focus does not receive all files of the missing minors.
Fedasil, Belgium's Agency in charge of providing shelter to asylum seekers, for example, recorded a total of 297 disappearances of minors from their observation and orientation centres, where the first phase of care takes place, in 2022.
Minors who disappear can find themselves at risk of abuse and exploitation once they end up in the hands of human traffickers or are recruited by street gangs. These groups can more easily take advantage of young asylum seekers when the reception system is in crisis, as is the case in Belgium.
Waiting too long
The increase in the number of disappearances is explained first of all by the fact that more minors came to Belgium, said Tijana Popovic, policy adviser at Child Focus. A record 6,434 unaccompanied minors were registered in Belgium last year.
However, more worryingly, a rising number of unaccompanied minors are disappearing in the second phase of reception, especially from collective asylum centres, likely because their procedure was taking too long and they had no future prospects.
While young asylum seekers should be assigned to a guardian as soon as possible, between 30 and 40% of these minors had not yet received this type of support.
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Last year, the largest number of young people who disappeared were young boys from Afghanistan, but this year, Moroccan boys aged 15 to 17 rank as the highest, as they account for 84% of disappearances.
The phenomenon of missing unaccompanied minors is not a problem limited to Belgium: between 2018 and 2020, at least 18,292 unaccompanied children seeking refuge in Europe went missing. Child Focus also mentioned several Nigerian girls have gone missing, ending up in prostitution networks or nail salons.
