Will this teenage migrant be one of the unaccompanied minors taken in by Britain?

Video report by ITV News correspondent Dan Rivers

Filimon Mengs is a bright, brave teenager - just one of the thousands of unaccompanied minors who have flooded into Europe to look for a better future on their own.

His journey is astonishing. He paid people smugglers to take him across the Sahara from Eritrea, through Egypt and Libya to Tripoli.

Of the 54 people who braved the trucks with him, seven died in the desert from dehydration.

Another two died from illnesses in the Libyan capital.

It took Filimon six months to get here, including a prolonged stay on Lampedusa after being crammed into a boat with 500 people.

He made his way up to Rome in a train. So far his journey has cost his family 8,000 US dollars (£5,570).

They sent him so he can evade conscription into the Eritrean army and because he represents their best hope of lifting themselves out of poverty.

They hope Filimon will one day finish his education and get a job, but his prospects are bleak.

He is living in a giant squat near Rome's main railway station.

The building used to belong to Rome University but has now been taken over by 1,200 Eritrean migrants.

It is well organised and peaceful - home to entire families who have fled Eritrea's repressive regime.

It's unclear if Filimon will be among the children who will be taken in by the UK.

Right now his main concern is where the next meal is coming from and how long he can remain camping out in this strange city, so unlike his village back home.