Europe sees rise in unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, with almost half from Afghanistan

Europe sees rise in unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, with almost half from Afghanistan | Pew Research Center

►http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/05/10/eu-unaccompanied-minors

http://www.pewresearch.org/files/2016/05/FT_16.05.05_chidMigrantsEurope.png

Men and women, old and young have all been part of the recent surge of asylum seekers into the European Union, Norway and Switzerland. But a lesser-known story about this surge is the rapid rise in child migrants traveling without an adult guardian.

Since 2008, about 198,500 unaccompanied minors have entered Europe seeking asylum, according to data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency. The first significant jump came in 2014, when the number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum almost doubled compared with 2013, from 13,800 to 23,200. A year later, in 2015, the total quadrupled to a record 96,000. The 2015 total alone accounts for nearly half (48%) of unaccompanied minors that have entered Europe since 2008. Nearly 7% of all first-time asylum applications in 2015 were from unaccompanied minors, the highest share since data on accompanied minors became available in 2008.

#migrations #réfugiés #asile #europe #enfants #enfance #mineurs_non_accompagnés

Childhood Without a Future? Unaccompanied Youth Migrants in Europe

Large numbers of unaccompanied young migrants are seeking sanctuary in Europe. The plight of these migrants has been brought into focus by the conditions in Calais. The Guardian recently reported that over 150 unaccompanied children from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries are still stranded in Calais, and called on UK Home Office to provide safe passage to Britain to reunite them with their relatives. Things came to a head in the UK House of Lords last Tuesday, when the government narrowly defeated a cross-party motion to accept some 3000 child migrants from mainland Europe. In this week’s podcast, Elaine Chase, a Senior Lecturer in Education, Health and International Development at the University College London asks what it is like for many of these migrants to navigate adolescence without much ability to plan for the future.

▻https://4mpodcast.com/2016/05/02/childhood-without-a-future-unaccompanied-youth-migrants-in-europe
#MNA #mineurs_non_accompagnés #asile #migrations #réfugiés #mineurs #enfants #Europe