The Swedish port where thousands of migrants and ‘refugees’ arrive on boats from Germany every week has reported some 1,000 children – or ‘grappling hook kids‘ – have gone missing since their arrival in the past month.

Trellebord in Skåne, southern Sweden is the southernmost major town in the country, and with regular ferry and boat-train services from Germany has become the second major point of ingress for migrants to Sweden alongside nearby Malmo, which is connected to Denmark by bridge.

Officials from the town told TheLocal that of the 1,900 unaccompanied minors who arrived at the port over the past month, around 1,000 have subsequently gone missing – moving on without notifying the authorities.

The sheer number of unaccompanied minors who arrived just this month at one port seem to disprove the Swedish government’s official estimate that only 12,000 unaccompanied minors are expected in 12,000. An official spokesman said: “We don’t know where they are (…) We don’t have the possibility to stop them leaving. We can’t wait by their beds day and night”.

Cecilia Lejon, a local government official charged with helping migrants integrate into Sweden said the rapid departure of the young people was explained by the fact that Trellebrod was little more than a transit port, with the majority moving on to the settled ethnic communities in places like Stockholm. There was also an element of distrust of Swedes, as she remarked some migrants “have absolutely no confidence in the authorities”.

TheLocal.se reports the Swedish migration board had no comment on the missing minors.

The definition of minors is a strong example of the cultural differences between host nation Sweden and the thousands of so-called refugees arriving in the country.

While in northern Europe a 17-year-old is considered a child and is given special protections and urgent processing as a migrant, in their native homeland they might very well consider themselves a fully fledged adult. Happy to cross Europe alone or with friends in hope of starting a new life in the lap of a foreign welfare state, and happy to make the most of the benefits being under the age of 18 brings.

Some over the age of 18 have even felt compelled to lie about their true age in the pursuit of more benefits and preferential treatment. As many arrive without passports, having burned them or thrown them into the sea on their way this uncertainty over true ages and identity prompted France to go as far as performing bone examinations of migrants to determine their true biological ages.

Breitbart London reported on the emerging trend of so-called ‘grappling hood kids’ in August, a symptom of Europe’s generous laws on family re-unification. Minors travelling alone are given this preferential treatment – better housing, access to education, and crucially the right to have their families flown directly to their new home from their homeland to satisfy the European Union’s human right to a family life.

This presents an opportunity to would-be migrant families who face the risk of potentially having their asylum applications rejected once they reach Europe. By sending their teenage, near adult male children ahead to Europe they can wait behind for the call that the right of reunion has been granted, a process that from start to finish can take as little as 10 months.