Invisible children

The number of migrant children in the world has increased by 50%, from about 24 million in the period 1990-2000 to 36 million in 2020. We are scandalized every time the news presents a photo of a child who died during an undocumented migration protected or not accepted in our country. Some think of various forms of naval blockade to reduce the number of migrant children. They pretend not to know that Italy does not even appear among the top twenty countries of destination for migrant children and that our country also has the worst birth rate in Europe (the ratio of births to population) equal to 6, 8 births for every 1,000 residents against a European average of 9.1. In fact, nearly 14 million international migrant children in the world migrate to Asia. Africa and Asia together host 3 out of 5 migrant children. The Asian continent accounts for 39% of all migrant children, actually less than the Asian proportion of the global child population (55% of all children). Europe and North America together host 31% of all migrant children (11 million), more than three times their share of the global child population (9%). About 18% of all migrant children live in Africa (6.2 million).

Half of all the world's migrant children live in just 15 countries; Asians are five of the six countries hosting the most migrant children in the world, in addition to the United States, which hosts 3.3 millions. Many of the countries receiving the largest number of migrant children also have high child populations. Some states, including Jordan, Iran, Uganda and Mexico, have high proportions of children in their overall migrant population (46, 42, 54 and 57%, respectively). In other host countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and the United States, children represent a relatively small percentage of the entire migrant population, but the overall migrant population of those countries is so large that the total number of migrant children it is still relatively high. According to the UNHCR, 71% of migrant minors in Europe in 2021 are not accompanied by adults.


Sandro Calvani
NP April 2023