2009 refugee children reported missing in Germany

According to current information from the Federal Criminal Police Office, children and young people who came to Germany as unaccompanied refugees in 2009 are currently registered as missing in the police information system (INPOL), the organization announced on Friday. This number has increased by ten percent since the beginning of last year.

Improving registration and child protection systems

The children’s rights organization called for more educational measures to protect these children. “The increased number of missing refugee children shows that cross-border and national child protection systems and the associated registration systems need to be improved,” said Holger Hofmann, the federal director of the German children’s organization. “Only in this way can children and young people fleeing to Europe be better supported and protected from the start.”

Lack of standards in care and housing

So far, too little is known about the situation of those affected. “It is therefore urgent to do better research into the reasons why the children are missing and in what life situations they are in,” says Hofmann. Only when there is more clarity about the causes of the disappearance can targeted investments be made in preventive measures. “In addition, well-equipped systems for child and youth care, quickly secured residence prospects and opportunities for family reunification are of particular importance,” Hofmann stressed.

Germany’s Children’s Fund pointed out “that child and youth care systems in many municipalities are not keeping pace with the increased number of unaccompanied refugee minors”. Standards in care and housing are partly overwritten. “This is also very problematic in terms of children’s rights,” says Hofmann.

Unreliable data

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that “children of refugees have traveled to relatives or that there are errors in the data collection in the redistribution”. But there are “no reliable numbers at all”. In addition, it must be assumed “that there are also refugee children who are not registered after entering Germany”. In that respect, there are still a number of unreported cases, “but reliable figures are also lacking here”.

In some European countries, a vulnerability analysis is carried out when unaccompanied minors go missing. From the point of view of the German Children’s Fund, this should also become standard in Germany. The federal government is called upon to act accordingly.

(AFP)