One hundred and four unaccompanied migrants under the age of 18, the vast majority of them males, arrived in Malta in 2018 according to information provided by the Home Affairs Ministry.

91 were males and 13 were females, with the youngest being an 11-year-old boy.

The ministry explained that, once they arrive in Malta, these children are first accommodated at the Initial Reception Centre in Marsa for medical screening. During this time, they also go through an age assessment to verify their age.

Once the date of birth of the child is confirmed, a care order is issued and a legal guardian and a social worker are assigned to the child. After that, the child is transferred to a residential home that caters for unaccompanied children, the ministry said.

Asked why these children are generally unaccompanied, the ministry said: “most of the time they leave their country of origin to assist their families back home. They might have relatives in Europe such as siblings, cousins, uncles and aunties,” however, these people usually have no relatives in Malta.

If they have relatives in another European country and contact is established, communication with international organisations is made so the process of reuniting them with their relatives is started, the ministry said. 

The youngest minor that arrived in 2018 was reunited with his mother in Spain whilst the process to reunite another child with her parents in France is currently underway.

The global picture

According to UNICEF, there are 50 million children in migration worldwide - 28 million who have fled violence and insecurity.

Globally, one in 200 children is a refugee, with one in three children living outside their country of birth also being a refugee. Children constitute half the global refugee population and one in every eight migrants is a child.

According to UNICEF, there are nearly 10 million children in the world’s 20 million refugees. An additional 40 million people in 2017 were internally displaced due to conflict and violence, and an estimated 17 million of those were children.

There are 5.4 million child migrants in Europe which amounts to seven per cent of the region's migrants. In 2015, 31 percent of refugees who arrived in the EU by sea were children.

The proportion of children (unaccompanied and accompanied) among sea arrivals in Greece in early 2016 was as high as 40%.

1 in 4 asylum applicants in the EU in 2015 was a child.

The EU picture

In 2018, there were almost 20,000 unaccompanied minors who applied for asylum in the European Union. One fourth were Afghans or Eritreans.

According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical arm, the 2018 numbers (19,700) were down by more than a third when compared to 2017 (31, 400) and below the 2014 level (23, 100).

In 2018, at the EU level, unaccompanied minors accounted for 10% of all asylum applicants aged less than 18.

In 2018, 86% of unaccompanied minors were males. Three quarters were aged 16 to 17 (14,800 persons), while those aged 14 to 15 accounted for 17% (3,400 persons) and those aged less than 14 for 7% (1,400 persons).

Over half of asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors in the EU in 2018 were the citizens of six countries: Afghanistan (16%), Eritrea (10%), Pakistan or Syria (both 7%) and Guinea or Iraq (both 6%).

Risks faced

Children in migration are continuously exposed to risks such as violence (including in reception/transit centres), physical abuse, exploitation, sexual abuse and trafficking for the purpose of sexual or other exploitation, going missing or becoming separated from their families, according to the European Commission.

Children have arrived in Europe with obvious signs of injury, trauma, and physical, sexual and psychological abuse incurred on their journey to and in Europe.

The House of Lords report on unaccompanied children in the EU from July 2016 lists some of the challenges unaccompanied children face. These include danger whilst entering the EU irregularly as well as the lack of protection while following EU migration routes undetected.

Other challenges unaccompanied minors face are lack of safe reception, reception capacity, proper reception conditions and inspection and monitoring.

Measures to prevent movement to their preferred country of destination, as well as procedural and other obstacles to family reunification, the risk of administrative detention, including in inappropriate conditions (such as a lack of separation from adults), are amongst the challenges faced by the unaccompanied minors.

Vulnerability to sexual violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking, lack of reliable information and advice, including information about trafficking, lack of legal advice and support, use of invasive methods to assess age, with variable results and reliability, are also amongst the concerns.

It is estimated that more than one child dies every day along the perilous central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy, according to UNICEF.

Of the almost 100,000 refugees and migrants travelling via this route in the past year, around 15 percent are children. The vast majority were boys aged 16 to 17 travelling alone from numerous countries in West Africa and the Horn of Africa.

“For many, Europe may not be their intended destination when they set out on their journey: the most head for neighbouring countries at first, but the abuse they experience along the way compels them to push on towards Europe,” according to Afshan Khan, Regional Director for UNICEF in Europe and Central Asia.

He also notes that "there are far more reasons that push children to leave their homes and fewer pull factors that lure them to Europe. But for those who do aim to come to Europe, the allure is the chance to further their education, find respect for their rights and get ahead in life. Once they reach Europe, their expectations are sadly shattered.”