The growing number of children who are living in homes or with foster families in Germany is being driven mostly by the increasing number of underage asylum seekers who entered the country alone, the German news agency KNA reported today (November 19).

Data released by the Federal Statistics Office showed that in 2023, around 215,000 young people in Germany lived with people, at least temporarily, who were not their family members. The number, which rose by 4 percent has increased again after falling by about 33,000 cases between 2018 and 2022. On its website, the Federal Statistics Office indicated that if the cases of solo minors arriving in Germany alone were not considered, the increase from 2022 to 2023 would only be 0.1 percent.

Under German asylum laws, after an unaccompanied juvenile is taken into care by the youth welfare offices, they are typically placed in homes, assisted living arrangements, or with foster families.

Under the care of others

Some of the key figures presented in the study are:

• Of the 215,000 children, about 128,000 minors were in homes while 87,000 were placed in foster care
• Of the total number, about 10 percent, or an estimated 20,500 young people who had entered Germany unaccompanied in 2023 were put under the care of a home or foster family
• Length of stay differs with care in a home ending after 2.4 years compared to foster families at 4.2 years
• Half of the children who were placed in homes or foster families were under the age of 15
• Almost one in three of the children were unprovided for, meaning that the young person's parent or guardian was absent. They had either arrived in Germany alone from abroad or one of their parents fell ill.  

In 2022, Germany accounted for about 7,300 applications for international protection filed by unaccompanied minors. Neighboring Austria recorded 13,000 applications while the Netherlands received about 4,200 applications.

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The latest data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) indicate that there were about 286,000 juveniles aged 17 or younger who entered Europe in 2023. About 15 percent of these minors were unaccompanied.

Approximately 43,000 applications for international protection in EU+ countries were lodged by unaccompanied minors last year. This was the most recorded number of applications since 2016.

Consistent trends included more unaccompanied boys than girls applying for asylum with most young men being between the ages of 16-17 years old. This group accounted for more than two-thirds of all unaccompanied minor applicants.

The profile of a typical unaccompanied asylum seeker varies significantly by country. An estimated 5 percent of these minors came from Turkey, 8 percent from Iraq, 25 percent from Syria, and 36 percent from Afghanistan. According to EUAA findings, this indicated that most minors from Turkey and Iraq traveled with adults which was not the case for other countries.