Detriment of the doubt. Age assessment and age determination in EU member states of previous stay

The detriment of the doubt

In this report the advisory committee has called attention to a specific aspect of age assessment, namely the role of the age registration of asylum seekers in another EU Member States in the Dutch asylum procedure.  As this registration is sometimes carried out without further investigation, it may occur that minors have indeed been incorrectly registered as adults in the Netherlands.

Age assessment and determination

For the purpose of the asylum procedure, it is important to know whether an asylum seeker is a minor or an adult, since age is the determining factor when deciding which rules and procedures to follow. It is therefore important that age is established with care and in accordance with international standards. Age assessment is complex because asylum seekers are often not in the possession of identification documents. In this case, another method must be found to establish an asylum seeker’s age. In the past few years, increasing attention has been given to improving the age assessment process in the Dutch asylum system.

Research

In drafting this report, in addition to performing desk research and studying the case law, the ACVZ conducted interviews with relevant actors with practical experience in this area, as well as lawyers and social organisations. The ACVZ also carried out an exploratory study into implementation practice around identification, age assessment and registration in Italy and Greece, since these are the first countries of arrival where asylum seekers often stay before migrating to the Netherlands.

Questions?

In case of questions please contact Myrthe Wijnkoop.