Each year, more than 250,000 children are reported missing in Europe. One child every two minutes.

Every child deserves safety, protection and the chance to be found. Missing Children Europe works across Europe to prevent child disappearances, connect organisations, drive research, and advocate for stronger child protection systems.

Whether you are a policymaker, member organisation, donor, partner or supporter, you can help complete the puzzle.

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Enhance Cross Border Cooperation to Efficiently Resolve Missing Child Cases

In 2023, 14% of missing children cases reported to 116 000 hotlines were cross-border in nature. Despite efforts to improve cooperation, challenges remain.  Cooperation within and between existing platforms and bodies such as the 116000 hotlines network, the Police Expert Network on Missing Persons, Europol, Interpol and the Schengen Information System should be strengthened for resolving such cases.

Recommendation: Rather than create a new centre or strategy for missing children, the EU should enhance cross-border police and multi-stakeholder cooperation on active cases within and between existing platforms and bodies, through streamlined standard operating procedures and information sharing mechanisms.

Empower Missing Children Hotlines to Support Children and Parents

The 116000 hotline operates in 32 European countries, providing free, 24/7 support to missing children and their families, with more than 2.5 million calls recorded over the years and more than 90000 cases handled. However, financial insecurity threatens its operation, making sustained funding, quality assurance and visibility essential.

Recommendation:  The EU should ensure the 116000 hotlines’ accessibility, quality, and sustainability through national and EU funding, empowering frontline practitioners, and raising public awareness.

Make Prudent Use of Child Alerts and Invest in Prevention

Criminal abductions account for less than 0,5% of child disappearances, while more than half are children who run away from home or care, making it an issue of child protection, best tackled through prevention. Child Alerts (eg. Alerte Enlèvement, Amber Alert, …) are one search tool among many, used to notify the public in a limited number of life-threatening disappearances. They must be used prudently, as they can in some cases endanger the child, and sparingly, as they impact the child’s privacy. Different systems, some free of charge, exist. The complex decision to activate must be taken nationally, by law enforcement and 116000 hotlines, following national law.

Recommendation: Rather than investing in an EU-wide coordination centre or platform for child alerts, the EU should invest in the prevention of child disappearance and strengthen integration of child protection systems.

Improve Statistical Data on Missing Children to Design Effective Prevention and Responses

The only report bringing together solid statistics on missing children dates from 2013 and indicates that around 250,000 children go missing in Europe every year. However, the differences in definitions, data collection practices and protocols between data actors and Member States did not and still do not allow for comparable data across Europe, making it difficult to gain a full picture of the current situation concerning missing children. Moreover, there are indications that children’s individual- and contextual characteristics can render some more vulnerable to going missing than others.  Solid evidence would be key for the development of effective prevention and responses. It is, however, challenging for police and hotlines to systematically collect data about this relationship.

Recommendation: The EU should require Member States to annually collect and report comparable statistical data on child disappearances. This common indicator should minimally include caseload, age, and gender. The EU should include longitudinal research into vulnerabilities and child disappearance in its Horizon programme.

Protect Children Who Run Away and Mainstream Missing in All Child Protection Policies

In 2023, more than half of cases handled by the hotlines involved children who ran away, often signalling an underlying issue like violence, neglect or abuse. They risk homelessness, further abuse, and criminal, sexual or other forms of exploitation. Any strategy on missing children must be part of a broad child protection strategy.

Recommendation: The EU should incorporate issues related to running away into all child protection policies, including those on poverty, homelessness, violence, anti-trafficking, and deinstitutionalization.

Prevent International Child Abduction and Provide Child Friendly Justice

One in five child disappearances is an abduction by a parent, with a grave impact on the wellbeing of children involved. Parents lack knowledge on preventive tools such as preventive SIS alerts, and mediation. Children often lack representation and support in divorce and abduction proceedings that affect them gravely.

Recommendation: The EU should ensure families are well informed on prevention of international child abduction and alternative dispute resolution such as mediation through a central information point in each member state. Children must be represented and supported by a trusted adult in proceedings that affect them.

Protect and Support Children in Migration against Risks of Trafficking and Exploitation

Over 50,000 migrant and refugee children went missing in Europe between 2021-2023, often due to trafficking, poor reception conditions, complex asylum procedures, lack of multiagency and cross border cooperation and inadequate information and support.

Recommendation: The EU should prevent migrant children from going missing by identifying early trafficking signs, improving referrals to support services, and establishing care models and guardianship systems focused on children’s best interests.

Tackle the Current Child Sexual Abuse Crisis and Fight Online Grooming

We are in the midst of a child protection crisis. Every second, 3 images or videos of child sexual abuse (CSA) are shared online, with more than 100 million images and videos featuring CSA reported on the Internet. In the last 5 years NSPCC reported an 82% rise in online grooming crimes. Grooming increasingly leads to disappearances. In 2023, 7 MCE member hotlines reported 111 cases where online grooming directly led to children going missing.

Recommendation: The EU should recognize online grooming as a form of child sexual abuse and include it in all related criminal, child protection and consumer protection policies. Detection, reporting, and prosecution of grooming must be enhanced, involving all actors, including private entities.