How many children go missing in Europe every year?

More than 124,000 virtual reports of disappeared children were sent to Missing Children Europe (MCE), the European federation for missing and sexually exploited children, past year. 

The fig is astir treble the magnitude recorded successful 2023. The federation does not explicate what caused this important rise.

Reports tin beryllium made by alerting the hotlines done telephone calls, substance messages, emails, chat services, and societal media.  

The study cites information from 22 European countries, including Finland, France, Poland, Spain, Albania, and the United Kingdom.

Most missing children are recovered by instrumentality enforcement agencies, portion children returning of their ain accord is the 2nd astir communal mode of children being recovered.

In the past 2 years, 67% of recorded cases impact children who person either tally distant oregon been pushed retired of their homes oregon attraction institutions.

The median ages of children who spell missing, according to 18 hotlines that could supply specified data, ranged from 12 to 16 years old, indicating that teen children are the astir astatine risk.

Why bash children spell missing, and however agelong does it instrumentality to find them?

Problems astatine location and successful institutions, arsenic good arsenic issues related to cause oregon intoxicant abuse, are among the astir communal reasons reported by hotlines. 

This is followed by intelligence wellness issues, problems astatine school, and grooming oregon exploitation.

Six successful 10 children reported to person tally distant were girls.  

"However, grounds from Belgium, comparing hotline with constabulary data, suggests a imaginable sex bias successful reporting, with boys being underreported compared to girls," the MCE study stated.

The bulk of children who ran distant were recovered successful little than a week (78%), portion 15% were recovered betwixt a week and a period aft their disappearance, according to 11 MCE hotlines.

Data from those aforesaid hotlines recovered that 1 kid was discovered dead.

Missing migrant children

Cases involving children successful migration somewhat roseate successful 2024, to 7%. However, MCE warned that determination is simply a deficiency of broad information connected children successful migration, limiting the knowing of however galore of these children disappear.

In specified cases, much boys than girls are missing. This is related to the information that determination are much antheral than pistillate asylum seekers and refugees.  

The mean property scope for children missing successful migration was betwixt 12 and 17 years old, according to reports by 9 hotlines.

According to information provided by 5 hotlines, 69 of these children were recovered alive, 46 of whom were recovered successful little than a week, and 3 children were recovered betwixt 1 period and 12 months aft their disappearance.

Morocco, Afghanistan, Algeria, and Syria are the astir communal countries of root for children going missing portion migrating. 

Between 2021 and 2023, much than 50,000 unaccompanied migrant children successful the European Union disappeared from the radar, according to Lost successful Europe.