A/HRC/38/50 with a peak of 3,183 in September. Close to 7 per cent of all Eritrean applicants were unaccompanied children, with Eritreans representing the third largest citizenship in this category of vulnerable applicants.16 95. The Special Rapporteur has learned that the Eritrean authorities do not issue exit visas to children over 5 years old, which then forces families to take alternative measures to move children across borders. This is an unfortunate measure which further fuels the irregular movement of children. 96. During the period January–April 2018, Eritreans constituted the fifth most common nationality of Mediterranean Sea arrivals, with 1,810 arrivals. 17 In Italy, Eritreans were the primary nationality that arrived by sea in March 2018, comprising 23 per cent of the overall arrival numbers.18 97. In 2017 over 30,000 refugee and migrant children arrived in Europe via the three Mediterranean routes, over 17,000 of them unaccompanied, coming mostly from four African countries, including Eritrea. As children travelled to Europe, many experienced physical violence and kidnapping for ransom or detention by armed groups and other dangers.19 98. Throughout her tenure, the Special Rapporteur has raised concerns regarding the protection of Eritrean refugees and has continued to follow developments in a number of host countries during the reporting period. 99. In Switzerland, Eritreans continue to constitute the biggest group of asylum seekers and their situation has received considerable public attention. Following its decision of February 2017, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court adopted a second decision in August 2017, holding that Eritreans who had served in the Eritrean national service would not necessarily face the risk of being recalled back into service or punished if they returned. 100. In early 2018, the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration decided to reassess the temporary residence of 3,000 Eritreans with the ultimate goal of return in the absence of a readmission agreement. The Special Rapporteur is fully aware of the considerable domestic pressure to curb the large number of Eritreans seeking asylum in Switzerland. However, these people, including many unaccompanied children, are fleeing from a dire human rights situation and a policy change regarding their access to protection would be difficult to justify without any significant changes on the ground. 101. In September 2017, the United States Department of Homeland Security announced measures to expedite the deportation of Eritreans back to Eritrea. In a joint urgent appeal to the Government of the United States in December 2017, Human Rights Council special procedure mandate holders expressed serious concern over the risk of a return to Eritrea of about 700 Eritrean nationals, in potential violation of the non-refoulement principle.20 Mandate holders argued that, given the situation in Eritrea, those forcibly returned were at high risk of being arrested, detained and subjected to ill-treatment and torture. If forcibly returned, Eritreans considered by the Government as having left the country illegally would face a risk of prolonged detention without access to legal representation and family members. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the substantive reply from the Government of the United States dated March 2018, as detailed in the communications report. 102. In a joint communication to the Government of Israel dated 19 February 2018, mandate holders raised concerns about the risk of refoulement of Eritrean nationals residing in Israel through forced relocation to third countries on the African continent, possibly not offering effective protection to those affected.21 103. Mandate holders also expressed concern about the extremely low recognition rate of asylum applications concerning Eritrean nationals by Israel, and the lack of recognition of 16 17 18 19 20 21 See European Asylum Support Office, “Latest Asylum Trends – Overview 2017”, 1 February 2018. See UNHCR, Operational Portal: Refugee Situations, “Mediterranean situation”. See UNHCR, ��Europe Monthly Report” newsletter, 20 April 2018, p. 1. See UNHCR, Desperate Journeys, January 2017–March 2018, p. 15. See communication dated 21 December 2017 and reply by the United States of 7 March 2018, available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/LatestReports/CommunicationSent. Available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/LatestReports/CommunicationSent. 15