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The number of migrant children, including unac-
companied minors, registered as present in the European
Union (EU) rose between 2020 and 2021, then went on to
rise significantly between 2021 and 2022.
According to Eurostat, the 27 EU Member States (EU-27)
and Norway1 received over 518 000 first time asylum
applications from children under 18 years of age and
79 000 asylum applications from applicants considered
unaccompanied minors in 2020-2022.3 This included
13 620 unaccompanied minor applicants in 2020, 25 290
in 2021, with a large jump to 40 175 in 2022.
Not all unaccompanied minors arriving in the EU apply
for asylum or are beneficiaries of temporary protection.
Data are not collected systematically across the EU on
those children who do not apply for, or benefit from, either
regime and it is difficult to give a total number of those
involved. However, unaccompanied children registered
by child protection services can help to fill in the gaps in
many EU countries (see Table 1).
With increasing numbers of migrant children arriving in
Europe and children’s rights on the agenda of different
EU and national institutions, including as part of the
negotiations of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum,4
the protection of children in migration remained an area
of considerable development in legislation and policy
throughout 2021-2022, at both EU and national level.
Several EU Member States reported introducing policies
and practices to better identify children in migration
procedures, as well as detect and address any additional
vulnerabilities they may have.
Six EU Member States and Norway implemented meas-
ures to safeguard vulnerable groups in reception centres
in 20216 or 2022,7 while three others increased the
provision of special accommodation places for families or
unaccompanied minors. New alternative (non-institution-
al) care options for unaccompanied children, particularly
family-based care/care families, were introduced or
improved by four Member States in 2021, and by Norway
in 2022.
In 2022, several EU Member States reported overall pres-
sures on reception systems, which affected places for chil-
dren, and/or higher numbers of unaccompanied children
arriving, which impacted reception facilities generally.
New provisions to strengthen guardianship systems were
introduced, and the group of minors eligible for a care
order or a guardian allocation was expanded during the
reporting period.
Procedural safeguards were strengthened in several
Member States, including to ensure that the best interests
of the child were examined in different procedures,15 or by
including additional safeguards in procedures specifically
for children.
A majority of EU Member States started new initiatives to
support unaccompanied minors transitioning to adult-
hood, mostly in the areas of employment, education and
accommodation
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