Brussels, 28/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - With the EU currently reforming its asylum procedure to make it more fair and efficient, the European Home Affairs Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, on Friday 28 September issued an appeal to the member states regarding the fate of unaccompanied minors arriving in Europe. At a press conference, she called upon them to improve the conditions for hosting young asylum seekers and for “cooperation and information sharing between EU countries”, according to a press release.
Commission data published on Friday in an interim report on its action plan on unaccompanied minors presented in 2010 shows that the EU registered some 12,225 asylum applications from young migrants in 2011. Even so, it remains hard to put a number on their presence on European soil, the Swedish official explained, as many young people are able to reach the EU via illegal channels. The total number of unaccompanied children entering Europe via illegal immigration networks is even higher, according to the Commission, referring to estimates and submitted by certain member states. Italy has submitted data indicating that there were 5,959 unaccompanied minors on Italian soil as of 31 December 2011; according to France's estimates, there are 6,000 unaccompanied minors on its territory; in Spain, the aggregate figure for the period 2008-2011 was over 5,500 and Belgium put the number of unaccompanied minors at 4,000.
Malmström said that the average young unaccompanied migrant is generally aged 16-17 years, is a young man and comes mainly from Afghanistan, Somalia or Guinea. They have many reasons for coming to Europe, such as wishing to flee war, violence and discrimination, wanting to join family members already present in Europe or the hope of finding a better life.
In its interim report, the Commission states that it feels its action plan has helped progress to be made within the member states, particularly in taking account of young migrants. However, according to a recent study piloted by the French NGO France Terre d'asile, which was presented on 17 September, the hosting conditions for isolated minors seeking asylum in the European Union every year remain generally unsatisfactory. (SP/transl.fl)