Age assessment practices: a literature review & annotated ... - Unicef

the guidelines they developed are relevant even if the applicant is older than 18,
emphasising the psychological and developmental maturity are as important as
chronological age (UNHCR, 2009, para. 75).
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health emphasizes the relevance of a child‟s
social history as part of the assessment, and requests that when using paediatricians‟
reports, immigration officers and adjudicators give due weight to social and cultural factors
in addition to physical factors, and emphasizes that paediatricians should always try to
explain how and why the social history is relevant to a particular child‟s assessment (The
Kings‟s Fund and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 1999:14). Getting to
know a child over a period of time and observing how they respond and react to a range of
situations can provide a good indication of their age, particularly if these observations are
from a range of professional disciplines. Gathering information about the child‟s social
history is important, including information about the child‟s family composition, development
information such as the activities that the child was involved in, education experience and
level of independence and self-care. If the child is seeking asylum or some form of
immigration status abroad, it is important that these experiences are contextualised within
the conditions of the country of origin, as information about ethnicity and culture are vital to
informing judgements. It is also important that the child is aware that an assessment of their
age is taking place (Danish Refugee Council, 2010).
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (2007), and the Austrian Human Rights
Advisory Board on Minors in Detention (see Einzenberger 2003) emphasise that social and
development assessments, carried out by professionals who have considerable contact and
expertise with young minors (such as youth welfare officers, social workers, paediatricians
and youth psychologists) should inform the age assessment process, and UK case law
emphasises the importance of holistic assessments which draw on a range of assessments
and information.
Social assessments are known to be carried out in Germany, Austria, Sweden, Ireland, the
UK and the USA, although what is meant by the term „social assessment‟, as well as the
quality of these assessments, varies considerably. In some cases what is described as a
social assessment is little more than a quick interview combined with a brief physical
assessment based on sight at the initial interview when the child claims asylum. For
example, in Germany and Austria a „social assessment‟ comprises a quick interview carried
out by a police and immigration official rather than a social worker (European Migration
Network, 2010), which does not meet the standards outlined above. In some parts of
Austria asylum officers make this assessment together with the local youth welfare officer.
However, some youth welfare officers refuse to cooperate arguing that they are not qualified
to assess the age of a person whom they have met only five minutes ago. Information
gathered in the course of the interview includes education history, birth dates of family
members etc and other bits of information that can be assessed against the consistency of
the age given. In both cases the physical appearance is the basis for the assessment. In
neither case is the individual‟s psychological maturity taken into account (Eizenberger,
2003:43).
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