Minor refugees: 40% lie about their age

Refugees know it well. Minors enjoy a special protection status in Germany, so lying about age is a very common strategy.

Münster - According to a study by the Institute of Legal Medicine in Münster, a large proportion of underage immigrants have lied about their ages. The Rechtsmediziner der Universitätsklink examined on behalf of courts about 600 so-called unaccompanied minor refugees whose age was doubted.

It turned out that about 40 percent of them were proven to be 18 years or older, according to the research published by Focus Online. All age reports of the institute were evaluated between 2007 and 2018 for the study.

The physicians acted on behalf of courts and youth welfare offices, which had questioned the age information of those affected. With the help of forensic age diagnostics it should then be clarified whether the immigrants are actually underage or not. 92 percent of the cases were young men from Afghanistan, Guinea, Algeria and Eritrea.

"In cases of doubt, he is classified as a minor"
However, the figure of 40 percent could be even higher. "Since we can not pinpoint the date of birth for the day, there is a gray area. We always put this variability in favor of the person concerned, in cases of doubt, he is classified as a minor," said Deputy Director Andreas Schmeling to the news portal.

The age determination was made from a combination of several methods. In addition to general physical examinations, the dentures and the wrist bones were X-rayed. Moreover, the clavicles were examined radiologically.

Underage asylum seekers enjoy special protection status in Germany, receive more support and do not come to collective accommodation. According to the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, the costs for an unaccompanied minor refugee are around 5,000 euros per month. In recent years, there have been repeated disputes over compulsory age checks for such persons.

Already two years ago it had become known that almost every second unaccompanied minor refugee is older than 18 years.

Source:
"Minderjährige Flüchtlinge: 40 Prozent lügen bei Altersangaben" (Junge Freiheit, 16-09-2019)