i have discovered over the past years that alot of people who migrate into these countries reduce their ages?

Question

i have discovered over the past years that alot of people who migrate into these countries reduce their, age why? and how come their detials arnt verified by the home office

Answer 1

Yes, this happens.

When asylum seekers arrive in the UK, they very often do so with no travel documents. To put it another way they have a passport when they get on the plane but it's either destroyed or returned to the 'facilitator' - the 'agent' who arranges their passage for money - before they reach UK Immigration. In these situations there is no reliable way of verifying identity - although there is a fingerprint check to weed out multiple claimants - and, within reason, immigration have no option but to accept the identity details given. In the alternative they may have succeeded in travelling on a forged document which does not give the true identity. Again there is rarely any way of verifying personal statement of identity.

Why can they get away with this ? Because the 1951 Geneva Convention stipulates that an asylum applicant cannot be returned to their home country without consideration of the merits of their application. So their case must be considered - which takes time - and they can't just be put back on the plane they arrived on. It should be said that genuine refugees do arrive in this way. It can be their only way of escaping their country. That said this approach has certain inbuilt incentives for those who are not genuine refugees.

1) Many countries refuse to accept the return of ' their nationals ' from the UK in the absence of a passport or concrete proof of nationality and identity. If a failed asylum seeker does nothing to co-operate with attempts to get them this documentation, the chances of them being returned are reduced. Even more so if they have given a completely false identity in the first place.

2) As you say they can pretend to be younger than they are. Not to the extent of claiming to be 14 at the age of 45 but telling the difference between 17 and 20 isn't as easy as you'd think. With no documentation this can be almost impossible to disprove. There are advantages to being treated as a 'minor' - under the age of 18. As someone else said there are additional difficulties in removing them if their applications fail because of duty of care towards minors and also social security provision is more generous.

3) If you happen to have any kind of criminal past - even to have connections with terrorism - there are very clear advantages in being able to use a different identity and in no-one knowing who you really are.

It's a big, big problem. We don't need to turn away genuine refugees but we do need to try and close some of these gaping loopholes.

Answer 2

According to the international laws on protection of minors, a child cannot be returned to their home country unless they have a secure supporting family there. No idea what the Home Office does. Where I live they take X-rays of the hand, because the cartilage in the finger joints is said not to become bone until the 19th year. This is a highly disputed theory. Children who have done manual work may show signs of more advanced development, and diet can also play a part.

Answer 3

I don't know what countries you are referring to, but some, like China, have a different definition of age. My friend Sunjing, from China, said that their age is counted from the date of conception, not birth, so by Chinese rules she is 9 months older than the US would acknowledge.

Another problem, which I believe is what you could be referring to, is that there is no documentation in the other country to prove how old the person is. Some countries are so poor and not managed well, so birth records are hard to account for. Furthermore, people that are not born in the hospital are supposed to register the birth with the authorities,, but in poor rural areas for many reasons they don't or can't afford it.

Answer 4

The home office cannot even tell you how many illegal immigrants we have here or even keep track of them,,so why now should you expect them to be checking peoples ages

Answer 5

I know that illegal immigrants do this. My daughter's illegal immigrant boyfriend told her he was 26 (she is only 23) and she later discovered he is 34! She admits she would NEVER have been attracted to him if she had known his true age.

Answer 6

How can they get into the country without a valid passport? I don't think people can easily lie about their age to the authorities.

Do you have any examples or is this just something you have heard?

Answer 7

MIGRATE...FLY IN FOR SUMMER?
detials arnt?

Answer 8

cause at lot of country's have age limits and wont let you in if you are over a certain age**********8

Answer 9

Probably the majority of them are women... we are quite vain

Answer 10

coz they are all slimy dirty foreign cnuts i suppose.