[Iran Press TV] UN officials have warned that over three quarters of children and young adults seeking asylum in Europe fall prey to torture, rape and other forms of abuse during their journey.

Young asylum seekers from Sub-Saharan Africa are particularly at risk of abuse, most probably due to racism, officials from UN children's agency, UNICEF, and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

"They use words like torture, beating, killing, slavery, trafficking, [and] rape not like abstract concepts, not something they have to write a report for school, but as their reality," UNICEF Brussels director, Sandie Blanchet, said at a press conference after UNICEF and IOM published a report based on extensive interviews.

"Just imagine for a second your own kids going through that," Blanchet noted.

According to UNICEF report, which surveyed 22,000 asylum seekers and refugees, including 11,000 children and young people, 77 percent of children and young individuals seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe had suffered "direct experiences of abuse, exploitation and practices, which may amount to human trafficking."

"Racism is likely a major underlying factor behind this discrepancy,” the report added.

IOM Director for the EU Eugenio Ambrosi called on officials to adopt a more effective border management policy, using trained professionals to care for children rather treat them as "a potential enemy crossing illegally our sacred border."