Controversial age determination for young refugees

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In Switzerland, more and more unaccompanied minors (UMA) are seeking asylum – this is bringing the cantons on the offensive.

Children and young people who come to the country without parents enjoy special protection in Switzerland. The unaccompanied minors receive help and are housed in special homes. Repatriation and deportation of minor refugees is only possible in exceptional cases.

In case of doubt, expert judgment is required

According to the Federal Council, 2877 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum last year. Of these, age checks were carried out in 1,040 cases – also because many were unable to show identification papers.

Minority was confirmed in 545 cases. However, with 495 asylum seekers, the federal government considers it unlikely that the young person is still a minor. The persons concerned are therefore treated as adults for the further asylum procedure.

If there is still doubt about the person’s age after the interrogation, a forensic medical report is usually ordered according to the three-pillar method: the left hand bone and collarbone are X-rayed. In addition, an overall assessment of physical development is performed by a doctor.

Critique of age evaluation analyses

Only: these analyzes are very controversial. Doctors, scientists and human rights organizations believe that the assessment of the sexual maturity of the persons concerned should not be carried out under any circumstances. The results of the reports are too imprecise. Moreover, it violates human dignity.

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) states: “An age determination is only carried out in those cases where there is serious doubt whether the person is a minor. The determination is made on the basis of surveys, documents and by means of forensic research.”

The three-pillar method is internationally recognised. If there is no clear finding, the asylum seekers will continue to be treated as unaccompanied minors.

Bad suspicion against authorities

Research by Blick in 2016 showed that the federal government did not give many refugee children the protection they are entitled to under the Constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the time, an analysis of the data from all of the approximately 151,000 people who applied for asylum in Switzerland between 2010 and 2015 showed that hundreds of minors could have reached adulthood in the asylum process. They showed a striking accumulation of 18-year-old refugees.

Then Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga (63) demanded clarification from the SEM for the distortions in asylum statistics. That striking age distribution among asylum seekers is no longer there today. This is proven by the SEM figures, which show the age of asylum seekers between 2017 and 2022.

Source:Blick