Over 63,000 asylum seekers in EU are minors

BRUSSELS, May 11 (KUNA) -- Up to 63, 300 asylum seekers in the European Union (EU) member states in 2016 were unaccompanied minors, Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, reported Thursday.
The number, however, is down by about a third compared with 2015 with almost 96 500 minors registered for asylum in the EU. In 2016, a substantial majority of minor applicants were males (89 percent) and over two-thirds were aged 16 to 17 (68 percent, or about 43,300 persons), while those aged 14 to 15 accounted for 21 percent (around 13,500 persons) and those aged less than 14 for 10 percent (almost 6,300 persons). More than a third (38 percent) of minor asylum applicants in the EU in 2016 were Afghans and about a fifth (19 percent) Syrians. (end) nk.msa