Around 3,500 unaccompanied foreign minors are currently wandering in Belgium, vulnerable to criminal networks and prostitution.
The warning was issued by the General Delegate for Children’s Rights in the French-speaking community, Soulaÿman Laqdim, on Wednesday, which is also International Children's Day.
Speaking to RTBF, Laqdim highlighted that while thousands of unaccompanied foreign minors are officially registered with the authorities, an equal number are living off the radar and in precarious situations.
Unaccompanied foreign minors refers to people under the age of 18, who are non-EU nationals, who aren't accompanied by a guardian or parental authority, and who are seeking international protection.
Completely left to fend for themselves, many of them are sexually exploited, forced to work, or used by criminal networks, according to Laqdim.
The General Delegate illustrated the reality of many of these minors, sharing the case of a 13-year-old girl forced to prostitute herself to eat, and a nine-year-old boy sleeping rough and doing drugs at Brussels-Midi station.
The pressure on the refugee reception capacity in cities like Brussels contribute to putting these children in harms way, according to a press release by the organisation for asylum seekers in Flanders, Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen.
The organisation called for "urgent action", urging for more investment in small-scale reception options for vulnerable minors, such as family homes or foster families, and increased number of guardians to support children going through their asylum process. "Every child deserves a safe home," said the director of Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen, Tine Claus.
Between 2021 and 2023, 51,433 missing unaccompanied minors were registered in 31 European countries, 2,241 of which were registered in Belgium, although the actual figure is suspected to be higher, according to Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen.
