Report comment

I think it would be more accurate to say that one in three asylum seekers in Europe claims to be a child. In many European countries, there are significant advantages to asylum seekers in claiming to be under 18 years of age, and in many such countries, such claims are seldom checked or corroborated. That is not to say that there aren't any asylum seekers under the age of 18, only that figures based on asylum seekers self-reporting their ages (on entering the country or making their asylum claims) are unreliable. Also, you can't assume that anything untoward has happened to every migrant "child" who is "missing": it simply means the authorities of the country concerned don't know where that person is. That could be because the person has chosen to lie low (perhaps because their asylum claim is likely to be rejected), it could be that they have departed for another country without telling the authorities, it could indeed be because they have been abducted or murdered.

In my view, a lot more resources should be devoted to processing asylum claims, including better representation for the asylum seekers, both to try to ensure (as far as humanly possible, and it isn't easy, where in the nature of the matter, the tribunal is trying to adjudicate on what has happened, or would be likely to happen, to the person in another, often distant, country, and where there may be no documents or even other witnesses to corroborate), that good claims are accepted and invalid ones rejected.