The UN said that more than two thirds of underage migrants who reached Europe in 2025 were unaccompanied minors traveling alone. Several UN agencies stressed that these children and youths are particularly susceptible to suffering abuse and exploitation at the hands of smugglers.
More than 20,000 out of a total of 31,100 children managed to arrive in Europe as irregular migrants in the last year without being accompanied by a parent or a guardian, according to the latest report from UNHCR.
The study, which was conducted jointly alongside the UN migration agency IOM and the UN children's agency UNICEF said that the overall number of children and youths traveling into Europe alone was on the decline by 25 percent compared to the previous year.
However, at the same time, the proportion of unaccompanied children within that group had risen from 51 percent to 67 percent, the report said.
Only one in five underage migrants traveling alone were reported to be girls.
Read AlsoNearly one in four asylum applicants in the EU are minors
Children at particular risk of exploitation
The report underscored the risks of these children being exposed to abuse and violence during migration.
Amy Pope, head of the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that "when safe pathways are limited and they have to rely on smugglers," underage migrants are left to fend for themselves.
"No child should have to face these risks alone," Pope stressed. "Our shared responsibility is to work across borders to protect them, uphold their rights, and provide the care and support they need."
Read AlsoCeuta: Most arrivals have left, what happens to the child migrants who remain?
In a statement, the IOM added that these "journeys are dangerous," finding that nearly half of all young migrants aged between 15 and 24 reported that they had suffered physical violence on their irregular journeys — especially in Libya.
"On the Central Mediterranean route, 28 percent said they had been held against their will, and 17 percent said they had been forced to work," the study emphasized.
"IOM urges European Union member states to put the best interests of the child at the center of every decision, to guarantee timely access to services, and never to detain children for immigration purposes," it further read.
Read AlsoSpain: Police arrest gang accused of trafficking migrant girls
Italy and Spain record most arrivals of underage migrants
The main EU countries of arrival for underaged migrants were Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain in 2025, with the majority of children and youths being registered in Italy and Spain as their first points-of-arrival.
In total, over 12,000 unaccompanied minors from Egypt, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Somalia and Sudan arrived in Italy alone last year.
In Spain, that tally of underage migrants traveling alone stood at more than 4,700 cases for all of 2025, with Algeria, Morocco, Mali and Senegal being their main countries of origin.
The report also highlighted the fact that these "findings suggest that reduced opportunities for safe, protection-sensitive movement along these routes may be pushing young people towards riskier journeys."
The study meanwhile did not dwell on the numbers of children who lost their lives during perilous migratory routes, especially across the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic route from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands.
Read AlsoUNICEF reached 15,000 migrant and refugee children with aid in Italy last year
with AFP, EPD