The number of underage refugees missing in Germany has almost doubled since the beginning of the year, local media reported Monday citing data from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
As of July 1, there were 8,991 asylum seekers aged under 18 missing in the country, the data requested and obtained by the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper revealed, Sputnik News reports.
At the beginning of the year, the number of missing children reached to 4,749.
According to a BKA spokeswoman, there is no evidence to believe that these disappearances have anything to do with crime, as "in many cases, children go missing when trying to visit parents, relatives or friends in other German cities or even in other European countries."