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Chapter 9 | Applying for Asylum
“Usually a fee earner but sometimes a very experienced
case worker [accompanies the child to the
screening interview]. We have had to make a lot
of interventions where it is clear that the child did
not understand. [The Immigration Service] are trying
to improve their style. In function terms they
are specializing [in children] but [they are still]
lacking in expertise.” 18
them or can be asked for advice on how to answer
the questions. Conversely, the fact that the interpreter
is from the child’s country can cause additional
trauma because of the child’s past persecution by
adults from that country. Despite the particular
challenges of interpreting for children, the interpreters
used by the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate do not receive any specific training.
The screening interview is supposed to be nonprobing
but interviewers can exercise some discretion
and adopt a more rigorous approach where issues
of credibility arise. 19 It is clear from refusal letters
sent to unaccompanied or separated children and
information provided by immigration solicitors 20
that the content of screening interviews is heavily
relied upon when the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate makes decisions on an unaccompanied
or separated child’s application for asylum.
“Screening interviews do stray into the area of
the [substantive] claim and [the Immigration and
Nationality Directorate] is refusing claims on the
basis of credibility. Before screening interviews
[were introduced] for children, we rarely got refusals
based on credibility.” 21
This tendency to primarily assess an application for
asylum on the basis of the consistency and cogency
of the account given by the asylum seeker is not
unique to applications from unaccompanied or
separated children and appears to be part of a pervasive
culture of disbelief which exists in relation to
asylum seekers within the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate.
Some unaccompanied or separated children
also misunderstand the role of the interpreter during
the screening interview and do not realise that
he or she is merely there to facilitate the interview. 22
They sometimes think the interpreter is interviewing
Compliance With International Standards
■ 1. Paragraph 30A of the UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child’s General Comment
No. 6 (2005) states that the assessment must be
conducted in a scientific, safe, child- and gendersensitive
and fair manner, avoiding any risk of
violation of the physical integrity of the child;
giving due respect to human dignity.
Recommendations
■ 1. No screening interview should take place if an
unaccompanied or separated child is not accompanied
by his or her guardian or an appropriate
adult and his or her own legal representative.
■ 2. An adult should not be deemed to be an
appropriate (or “responsible”) adult until it has
been ascertained that he or she has the necessary
training and experience to fulfil this role.
■ 3. The screening interview should not be used
to probe the credibility of an unaccompanied
or separated child’s substantive application for
asylum.
■ 4. The screening interview should only be
used to check an unaccompanied or separated
child’s identity or to resolve any child protection
concerns arising from his or her situation.
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