The main motive for refugees in deceiving migration services is material gain
Indeed, as "Russkaya Germaniya" notes, even the most modern medical equipment does not allow determining the exact date of birth. In this regard, in disputed cases, forensic experts interpret the margin in favor of the interested party.
During the study, about 594 refugee applications submitted from 2007 to 2018 were analyzed. Most of these asylum seekers (92%) came from Afghanistan, Guinea, Algeria, and Eritrea.
The task of the experts was to determine the true age of the immigrants with the highest possible accuracy. The corresponding diagnostics were carried out using several methods: through a general physical examination, a special dental examination with X-rays, as well as X-ray examination of the hands. The result was striking: out of the total number of supposedly minor participants, almost half (234 people) turned out to be 18 years old or older.
Employees of the German migration authority quite often encounter situations where people who, by external signs, are clearly adults, try to pass themselves off as teenagers at the border. However, it is impossible to determine the true age of a young man pretending to be a minor, even a clearly adult man with a beard.
Determining the age of a person without documents is possible only through a thorough medical examination. However, even in this case, the margin of error is quite large. The issue of introducing mandatory age determination examinations for refugees causes much controversy. A sociological survey shows that 78% of surveyed German residents would support this decision. Meanwhile, many politicians emphasize that mandatory medical examinations to verify the truthfulness of the age stated in the application violate human rights and contradict ethics.
Why start life in a country that has kindly provided shelter with a lie? Of course, the main motive for immigrants in deceiving migration services is material gain, the desire to arrange their lives in a new country with maximum comfort. For example, special rules apply to minors when granting asylum. They allow for better social protection and higher social benefits.
Refugees whose age does not exceed 18 years fall under the departments of youth welfare. Unlike older immigrants, they do not live in dormitories with strangers, but with relatives (if they arrived as a family) or in foster families. Moreover, minors are subject to milder liability for violating the law or the possibility of avoiding it altogether.
According to the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, the maintenance of one minor immigrant costs the budget approximately 5,000 euros per month. This amount includes the cost of housing, food, education, and educational work for integration into European society.
According to statistics, Germany still holds the lead in the number of accepted minor immigrants. It is in Germany that about every fifth unaccompanied refugee under 18 settles. According to information provided by Destatis, while the number of minor immigrants arriving in Europe is gradually decreasing, in Germany their number continues to grow. According to Eurostat, the vast majority of teenage immigrants (86%) are boys.