Medical age evaluations for young asylum seekers criticised by legal scholars

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A government proposal to establish legal provisions for laboratory tests to evaluate the age of young asylum seekers has come under criticism by legal experts.
      Constitutional law expert, Professor Tuomas Ojanen, says that in addition to being expensive, the tests violate several fundamental rights, and draw out the handling time of asylum applications.
      Asylum applicants under the age of 18 can avail themselves of provisions for family unification better than adults, and there have been widespread suspicions that some applicants have deliberately understated their age with this in mind.
     
“On the practical level people should understand above all what age tests are about. What are the legal remedies in a situation in which the person being tested disagrees with the outcome of the test?” Ojanen asks.
      He notes that the young people in question are usually are usually not very well educated, when they find themselves in a strange country where they do not speak the language, and have feelings of fear and confusion.
     
Also concerned about the young applicants’ rights is Dr. Sami Mahkonen, an expert in juvenile law.
      “If a 17-year-old is evaluated to be 18 years of age, he or she should be allowed to seek legal remedy”, says Mahkonen, who otherwise is in favour of age testing.
     
Supporting the proposal for age testing are the Finnish immigration Service and the forensic medicine department of the Hjelt Institute.
      Age tests involve using X-rays of wrists and teeth to measure bone density. The degree of development of the bones is examined to determine if an asylum seeker who claims to be under the age of 18 really is that young.
      Forensic dentist, Professor Helena Ranta of the Hjelt Institute emphasises that the tests do not give a very precise result - only an estimate that is accurate within a range of 1.5 - 2 years.
     
Age evaluations have been conducted for a long time in Finland, but last year, police stopped the activity after the Parliamentary Ombudsman said that they violated the constitution. Sweden has stopped evaluating the ages of asylum applicants.
      In 2009 year 557 asylum applicants claiming to be under the age of 18 arrived in Finland.
      Of the group, 137 aroused the suspicions of police, and were sent to medical evaluations of their age. About 60 per cent of this group were found to be above 18.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Police to get funding for refugeeś age tests (3.2.2009)
  Surge in number of underage asylum seekers (24.11.2008)
  YLE News: Finnish police to discontinue age testing of asylum-seekers (28.5.2009)
  Up to a third of “underage” asylum seekers prove to be older (5.5.2009)

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