(VOVworld) - At least 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees have disappeared after arriving in Europe, according to the EU’s criminal intelligence agency.

A migrant child walks from the Macedonian border into Serbia, near the village of Miratovac. (Photo:AP)

Many are feared to have fallen into the hands of organized trafficking syndicates. Europol General Director Brian Donald said 5,000 children had disappeared in Italy alone, while another 1,000 were unaccounted for in Sweden. He warned that a sophisticated pan-European “criminal infrastructure” was now targeting refugees, adding that they don’t know where the children are, what they’re doing or whom they are with. Donald confirmed Europol had received evidence some unaccompanied child refugees in Europe had been sexually exploited. According to Save the Children, an estimated 26,000 unaccompanied children entered Europe last year.