The unauthorized migration of Syrian refugees to Europe has generated shock, the global public appalled by photos of corpses of children washed ashore. A plethora of studies have shown how Syrians, especially unaccompanied minors, during their irregular journeys have fallen prey of criminal networks, such as human smugglers and traffickers. Yet, studies have often overlooked the importance of national and ethnic ties in the formation of transnational networks able to support refugees throughout their journey and settlement in the country of arrival. This paper focuses on the experience of Syrian minors who left their country following the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. Rather than repeating a narrative already abundantly circulating in media and policy circles, it contradicts the widely accepted belief that unaccompanied minors are passive victims at the mercy of trafficking rings. On the one hand, it shows how the inclusion of children in official spaces of protection (let alone their over criminalization) put in place by authorities and the international community during their journeys have often curbed minors’ agency. On the other, it demonstrates how the day-to-day interactions between facilitators and Syrian minors can at times provide minors on the move with new horizons of possibility.