Hundreds of migrant minors roam Swedish streets

Hundreds of foreign minors lead homeless lives on the streets of the Swedish capital, local media reported on Tuesday.

Around 200 children, some as young as nine years old, spend their nights in central Stockholm after traveling through Europe from countries such as Morocco, an investigation by public broadcaster Swedish Television (SVT) found.

"In Sweden, they say Morocco is a nice country. But there are many poor people there. The problem is that when we arrive here and don't receive any help, we start doing dirt," a boy who called himself Omar told the channel.

Many of the minors dodge authorities for fear of having their asylum applications rejected, SVT reported, and some spoke of selling drugs to survive.

"My understanding is that they are exploited by older criminals. We've seen youths who commit burglaries to make ends meet," a central Stockholm police officer who declined to give his name told SVT.

Roaming migrant children found themselves in the media spotlight in February after a Moroccan boy had been forcefully held down by security guards at Malmo central station for skipping the fare on a train. The charges against the guards were later dropped.

Sweden is set to remain the European Union's stop recipient of refugee children this year, with an expected total of 12,000 entering the country. Endit