Police to get funding for refugees’ age tests

Many “juvenile” asylum-seekers found to be older than reported

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Finnish police are to be given extra funding for medical tests to ascertain the true ages of asylum seekers who claim to be under-aged. Police precincts have so far had to pay the costs of age tests out of their own budgets, which has curbed their enthusiasm for conducting such tests.
     The number of underage asylum seekers who come to Finland on their own has skyrocketed in recent years. Last year 647 of them arrived in Finland, whereas in 2007 there were 98 and in 2006 there were just 108. Most of the arrivals are from Somalia and Iraq.
     
The surge in underage asylum seekers has added to suspicions of the use of “anchor children”, who can provide easier access to Finland for entire families.
      Children are granted asylum more easily than adults, and once allowed to stay in Finland, they can apply for residence permits for family members under the principle of family reunification. Last year 555 family members of approved refugees arrived in Finland.
     It is increasingly suspected that some asylum seekers understate their ages in hopes to get easier approval for their applications.
     
The Finnish Immigration Service hopes that the correct ages of asylum seekers claiming to be under the age of 18 could be ascertained through tests involving the teeth and the bones of the wrists. Last year a few age tests were conducted.
      Esko Repo, the head of the asylum unit of the immigration service says that “dozens” of tests revealed that an asylum seeker claiming to be underage, was actually an adult.
     The Ministry of the Interior has taken the view that age tests would be paid out of the EUR 2.5 million that has been budgeted for expenses including deportation of rejected asylum seekers. In principle, there is enough money to test all asylum seekers who claim to be underage, as the cost of one test is about EUR 400.
     
Asylum seekers who have lied about their ages are often allowed to stay in Finland anyway: under current policy, would-be refugees are not sent back to countries considered dangerous, such as Iraq or Somalia. Esko Repo says that those who have misstated their ages are treated like any adult who asks for asylum.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Number of children seeking asylum close to record (18.8.2008)
  Surge in number of underage asylum seekers (24.11.2008)
  Record numbers of underage asylum seekers arrive in Finland recently (20.10.2008)

Links:
  Ministry of the Interior: Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers
  Finnish Immigration Service (MIGRI)

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