--- description: There has been a drastic increase this year in the number of underage migrants arriving in Europe from northern Africa title: 9 Out of 10 Migrant Children Arriving in Italy are Unaccompanied image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e62ba8ccfa3d407/698897ed0b72e320d36e9d0e/rtx1nctr.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [migrant crisis](/tag/migrant-crisis/) ## migrant crisis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Number of Unaccompanied Refugee Children Arriving in Europe Has Doubled by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2016 7:24 AM CUT  Migrant children sit on the lower deck of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station ship MV Phoenix after being rescued from an overloaded wooden boat 10.5 miles (16 km) off the coast of Libya on Aug. 6, 2015 Migrant children sit on the lower deck of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station ship MV Phoenix after being rescued from an overloaded wooden boat 10.5 miles (16 km) off the coast of Libya on Aug. 6, 2015Darrin Zammit Lupi—Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2016 7:24 AM CUT There has been a drastic increase this year in the number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving in Europe from North Africa, according to a [new UNICEF report](http://www.unicef.org/media/media%5F91552.html "undefined") released Tuesday. The U.N. Children’s Emergency Fund provides grim statistics that illuminate the abuses within the ongoing migrant crisis. According to the report, 9 in 10 refugee children escaping to Italy from North African countries, like Libya, are unaccompanied. And more than 7,000 have made the journey so far this year — double the number of young migrants who made the passage in 2015. Abuses such as forced prostitution and labor are endemic among the youths fleeing to Europe, the report finds, as most depend on the mercurial favor of human smugglers in order to “earn” their transit. **Read More:** [_These 5 Facts Explain Europe’s Deadly Migrants Crisis_](http://time.com/3833333/ian-bremmer-europe-migrants-deaths/ "undefined") “If you try to run, they shoot you and you die. If you stop working, they beat you. It was just like the slave trade,” one 16-year-old [boy told ](http://www.unicef.org/media/media%5F91552.html "undefined")UNICEF. “Once I was just resting for five minutes, and a man beat me with a cane. After working, they lock you inside.” The report also noted that many of the refugees who have [died crossing](http://time.com/3827557/migrant-boat-capsizing-mediterranean-europe/ "undefined") the Mediterranean so far this year — 2,809 in total — were children. **Read More:** [_Mediterranean Becomes Mass Grave as Europe Struggles With Migrant Crisis_](http://time.com/3827557/migrant-boat-capsizing-mediterranean-europe/ "undefined") “It is a silent and desperate situation — out of sight and out of mind,” Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s coordinator for the refugee crisis in Europe, said in the report. “Yet tens of thousands of children face danger every day and hundreds of thousands more are prepared to risk everything.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4369566/migrant-refugee-children-north-africa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4369566/migrant-refugee-children-north-africa/"},"headline":"The Number of Unaccompanied Refugee Children Arriving in Europe Has Doubled","datePublished":"2016-06-15T07:24:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:36:56.830Z","description":"Some children report being forced into prostitution or \"slave\" labor at the hands of people smugglers to earn their transit","url":"https://time.com/4369566/migrant-refugee-children-north-africa/","keywords":["migrant crisis","Africa","europe","Human Rights","Italy","Libya","UNICEF","Refugee crisis"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e62ba8ccfa3d407/698897ed0b72e320d36e9d0e/rtx1nctr.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e62ba8ccfa3d407/698897ed0b72e320d36e9d0e/rtx1nctr.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Migrant children sit on the lower deck of the MOAS ship MV Phoenix after being rescued from an overloaded wooden boat 10.5 miles off the coast of Libya","caption":"Migrant children sit on the lower deck of the MOAS ship MV Phoenix after being rescued from an overloaded wooden boat 10.5 miles off the coast of Libya","creditText":"Darrin Zammit Lupi—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/migrant-crisis/","name":"migrant crisis"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4369566/migrant-refugee-children-north-africa/","name":"The Number of Unaccompanied Refugee Children Arriving in Europe Has Doubled"}}]}] ```