Youth on the Move, Travelling by Sea and by Land to Europe in 2023. Focus on IOM's latest report
Children and young people journeying to Europe often face intense challenges on their way, encountering a host of risks both at sea and on land. This latest report from IOM delves into the experiences of adolescents and young adults making these perilous journeys, drawing on data collected in 2023 by IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain, and Kosovo.
Mixed migration flows to Europe are characterized by a sizeable share of children and young adults. The report highlights the vulnerabilities of these young migrants, who are often travelling alone and report higher rates of abuse, exploitation, and violence compared to adults. By examining their diverse profiles and their routes through African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries, the report identifies how nationality, gender, and other individual circumstances shape the risks they encounter along the way.
Overall, about 42 per cent of surveyed young migrants faced severe challenges, including financial difficulties, lack of food, theft, poor shelter, and health issues. Alarmingly, a third reported unpaid work, forced labour, physical violence, or deprivation of liberty during their journeys. Some routes are riskier than others: adolescents and young adults on the Central Mediterranean Route systematically reported protection incidents more frequently than those on any other route to Europe. This adds to the available evidence on migrants who die or go missing along the same routes.
The report adopts a route-based approach to shed light on the lived experiences of adolescents and young adults on dangerous journeys to Europe, offering a strong evidence base for IOM and humanitarian partners to enhance protection programming and support for these vulnerable groups both during transit and upon arrival in Europe.
Please visit the IOM’s DTM portal page for Europe to access more available resources, data and analysis at regional and country level on mixed migration flows to Europe and the Platform’s Data section.
For more information contact: Laura Bartolini (lbartolini@iom.int) and Luca Doll (ldoll@iom.int), Regional Data Hub, IOM Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia