Five years after the height of the European migrant crisis at least 210,000 supposedly underage migrants have applied for asylum in the European Union, according to NGO Save the Children.
Helena Thybell, Secretary-General of Save the Children, claimed that since the start of the migrant crisis it has become harder for supposedly underage asylum seekers in Europe, with Save the Children criticising the European Union for allegedly neglecting minor asylum seekers.
“The situation of unaccompanied minors has become considerably more difficult since 2015, both in terms of obtaining a residence permit but also in terms of their life situation in general. And we see this both in Sweden and the rest of Europe,” Thybell told Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
“We also see that unaccompanied minors who are about to turn 18 feel particularly bad because they know that they lose many rights when they come of age. And they are at a higher risk of being deported,” she added.
According to a Save the Children report, many of the supposedly underage migrants end up on the streets of various cities in Europe, at risk of violence and abuse.
In Berlin, supposedly underage migrants have been recruited by local gangs to deal drugs or have had to resort to prostitution.
In Paris, meanwhile, gangs of supposedly underage Moroccan migrants living on the streets terrorise residents, committing petty robberies and engaging in violence.
Last year, an underage Moroccan migrant was arrested in Paris after allegedly going on a random stabbing spree in the northern part of the city and injuring eight people. Following his arrest, the migrant, who was intoxicated, could not explain why he had stabbed them.
Another issue for several countries since 2015 has been the large number of migrants claiming to be underage but were actually adults.
Earlier this year, the French department of Côte-d’Or found that only 20 per cent of the migrants they tested who claimed to be underage actually were. In Sweden, in 2017, a study showed that 84 per cent of underage migrants tested were adults.