1 child in every 12 minutes reported missing in France last year: Report

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) - One child was reported missing every 12 minutes in France last year, according to a report released on Thursday.

The Interior Ministry revealed in a report via the Droit d'Enfance Foundation, which coordinates and manages the official emergency hotline 116,000 Missing Children, that 43,202 minors were reported missing in 2022.

The report said 37.9% of those children are younger than 15.

The foundation added that 41,518 of those children were reported running away, and 1,140 were cases of "preoccupying disappearance" – with 56% of them being girls – while 544 cases were parental kidnapping.

The preoccupying disappearances are those that last long, where the contact with the missing person is very weak or completely stopped.

The number of children younger than 15 fleeing their homes has increased by 3.6% since 2018, the report also said.