It has been reported that in #Austria up to three-quarters of all young #refugees have disappeared.
The dramatic numbers became public during the conference of the refugee state councils on Wednesday, May 11.
18,000 young #asylumseekers are said to have disappeared while fleeing.
As Justice Minister Alma Zadić of The Greens party (Die Grünen) announced at the conference, in the period between 2018 and 2020, 18,292 unaccompanied children disappeared in #Europe.
The situation in Austria in the previous year was particularly dramatic: Of the 5,768 minors who applied for #asylum in 2021, 4,489 disappeared without a trace. That's more than three-quarters!
The minister was unable to answer what exactly happened to the refugees. The responsible authorities suspect that a good number of them were victims of #childtrafficking, #drug crime, or child #prostitution.
Zadić and the responsible provincial councilors agreed that in the future the young refugees receive a state-assigned guardian to take care of them from day one. Zadić also demanded that more money be spent on unaccompanied minors in the future. Among other things, the Green Minister of Justice called for an increase in the daily rate for accommodating refugees.