CHAPTER 5 UNACCOMPANIED AND SEPARATED CHILDREN ASYLUM APPLICATIONS Children separated from their parents and families because of conflict, forced displacement, or natural disasters are among the most vulnerable. It is imperative that governments and agencies collect data to identify these children and assist them. However, data availability on unaccompanied or separated children seeking asylum is limited, and not all countries report these data, including countries with significant numbers of asylum claims such as South Africa and the United States of America. Furthermore, UNHCR compile data on asylum applications on an annual basis; they do not include unaccompanied or separated children who are recognized as refugees, nor do they reflect total numbers of both asylum-seeking and refugee unaccompanied or separated children. In 2016, provisional data indicated that 75,000 unaccompanied or separated children sought asylum on an individual basis, with 70 countries reporting at least one such application. This number, while known to be an underestimate due to under-reporting, was a reduction on the exceptionally high number of claims reported in 2015. Nevertheless, it was more than double the 34,300 applications from unaccompanied or separated children reported in 2014. Germany received the largest number of applications from unaccompanied or separated children by a large margin, with 35,900 claims in 2016, more than half of all reported claims. This compared with 14,400 in 2015 and 4,400 in 2014. As in previous years, the majority of these claims were from Afghan children (15,000), among which 1,700 were below the age of 15. Germany also received 10,000 claims from unaccompanied or separated Syrian children, of which 2,500 were under 15. There were also 3,000 applications from unaccompanied or separated Iraqi children and 1,800 from those from Eritrea. Italy received the next largest number of applications for asylum from unaccompanied or separated children, with 6,000 claims. This is significantly lower than the number of such children arriving in the country, estimated at 25,900. This difference may be explained by onward movement to other European countries, unaccompanied or separated children who are vulnerable and need assistance on account of their age but are not in need of international protection, and trafficked children who go missing. The number of applications from unaccompanied or separated children in Sweden greatly decreased from the previous year. In 2016 there were 3,200 claims, compared with 35,800 in 2015, a reduction of about 90 per cent. As in 2015, the most numerous claims were from Afghan children, while other countries with large numbers of claims from unaccompanied or separated children in 2016 included the United Kingdom (3,200), Bulgaria (2,800), Turkey (2,500), and Greece (2,400). Egypt and Kenya were the only non-European countries with more than 1,000 claims from unaccompanied or separated children, with 1,500 and 1,000 claims, respectively. Looking at country of origin, claims from unaccompanied or separated Afghan children were the most common (26,700), followed by those from Syrian children (12,000). Other groups with substantial claims from unaccompanied or separated children were from Iraq (4,800), Eritrea (4,700), Somalia (3,500), and Gambia (2,400). Out of the total 75,000 claims, 18,300 were from unaccompanied or separated children below the age of 15. UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2016 47