When is a child not a child

1

• When is a child not a child?
• Conceptualisations of childhood in the asylum
  process

Dr Heaven Crawley Director, Centre for
Migration Policy Research
2
Presentation overview

• The boundaries of childhood
• The increase in disputes over age
• Reasons why age is disputed
• The (in)significance of age
• Difficulties in assessing chronological age
• Physical appearance and behaviour as a proxy for
  age
• The implications of age disputes for children
• The asylum process
• Social welfare and child protection
• Identity, self-esteem and mental health
• (Re) conceptualising childhood in the asylum
  process
• Implications for policy and practice

3
The boundaries of childhood

• Childhood is both a biological phenomenon and a
  social construction
• The boundaries of childhood are defined legally,
  socially and physically in different ways in
  different geographical and historical contexts.
  Any conception of childhood will vary according
  to the ways in which its boundaries are set
• Children within the UK (as elsewhere) occupy a
  particular policy space that has been constructed
  around notions of childhood and the nature of
  expectations around childrens experiences
• In our particular socially and legally
  construction of childhood, the boundary is at 18
  years of age
• Just as importantly, children are perceived as
  good, innocent, happy and, most importantly,
  dependent

4

• When is a child not a child, and if a child is
  not a child, who makes such pronouncements? As I
  reflected on these questions, so the apparently
  simple concept of the child became increasingly
  complex and contradictory
• Gittins 1998, xiii

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The increase in disputes over age

• Age disputes as an example of a policy process in
  which pronouncements are made about who is a is
  not a child with implications for the asylum
  application, welfare, child protection and mental
  health
• Evidence that these pronouncements have become
  increasingly negative and that children are often
  treated as if they are adults because they do not
  look or behave as we expect children should
• In 2005 2,965 applications were received from
  asylum seekers accepted as children but there
  were an additional 2,425 age disputed
  applications
• This means that in 2005 nearly half (45) of all
  applications made by those presenting as
  separated asylum seeking children were age
  disputed and treated as adults

6

• According to the Home Office this increase is due
  to increasing abuse by adults claiming to be
  children and better processes for identifying
  these cases
• Home Office maintains that the priority is to
  prevent adults inappropriately accessing systems
  of support intended for children Adults in the
  childrens system pose a serious threat to our
  obligation to protect children effectively (Liam
  Byrne, 21st Feb 2007)
• In 2005 over 60 of age disputed asylum seekers
  detained at Oakington were assessed as children
  (and therefore unlawfully detained)
• Between March 2005 and May 2006 half of age
  disputed cases referred by the Childrens Panel
  were assessed as being under 18 years of age
• Age disputes have become a touchstone issue for
  concerns about the ways in which separated asylum
  seeking children are treated and actual and
  perceived failures in the asylum system

7
Daily Mail 22nd Feb 2007
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The reasons why age is disputed

• Understanding the reasons why age is disputed is
  a complex task, not least because of the wide
  range of circumstances in which age may be
  disputed
• The research has found that disputes increasingly
  occur at 16 as well as 18 years of age
• Some adults claim to be children in order to
  access services and support as well as leave to
  remain in the UK
• Some children claim to be adults in order to gain
  entry to the UK and this may never to questioned
  by the authorities
• This situation is complicated further by the fact
  that many children and young people do not know
  their chronological age or date of birth

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The (in)significance of age

• Chronological age is both significant and
  insignificant
• Not all countries and cultures attach the same
  importance to chronological age and in many
  countries birthdays are not marked
• Lack of understanding of the way in which dates
  of birth and calendars are calculated in other
  countries and cultures
• Many asylum seeking children have grown up in
  economic and political contexts there is no
  advantage to be gained from remaining childlike
  or dependent for longer than absolutely necessary
• Reflected in a lack of documentary evidence of
  age
• Perhaps not surprisingly, many children dont
  understand the implications of being treated as
  an adult

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• When my age was disputed I didnt know what to
  think. First I thought how could he consider me
  as an adult? Then I thought its a normal thing.
  I turned into an adult but I didnt understand
  how he could say I was an adult. Then he wrote on
  some papers and I though perhaps it doesnt
  matter if Im an adult. He didnt explain that it
  would make a difference
• Gloria, 16 years old, Angola

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Difficulties in assessing chronological age

• The assessment of chronological age is
  notoriously difficult even among children who
  grow up in the same social and economic
  environment and come from similar ethnic
  backgrounds
• Separated asylum seeking children come from
  cultures and contexts in which the boundaries of
  childhood may be very different
• There is no scientific or medical assessment
  process which can solve this problem accurately ?
  dental and bone x-rays exhibit a margin of error
  of /- 2 years
• Danger of looking for pseudo-scientific or
  technical solutions to a problem that arises from
  and reflects a particular conceptualisation of
  childhood i.e. as predominantly socially rather
  than biologically constructed and based on
  competence / need and not just age

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Physical appearance and behaviour as a proxy for
age

• It is Home Office policy to dispute the age of an
  asylum seeker who claims to be a child only if
  his or her physical appearance strongly suggests
  that they are aged 18 years or over
• There is evidence that the benefit of the doubt
  is often not given in practice and of an
  over-reliance on physical appearance as a proxy
  for age
• Immigration officers and some social workers fail
  to recognise the circumstances in which asylum
  seeking children have lived prior to their
  arrival in the UK and the trauma experienced
  before and during flight
• Expectation that children will look and behave in
  ways that are familiar and consistent with the
  dominant conceptualisation of childhood in the
  UK

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• When I went to the Home Office they told me I
  was over 18 even though I had a hard and a
  difficult life in Afghanistan. I worked for the
  family as a shepherd and it was a tough life.
  Thats why my face looks much older then I
  amLast time I went to the Home Office I told
  them that I am now 16 and they looked at my hands
  and said no, you are not 16. But I am not like
  a British child. They dont work. My fingers and
  my hands, they have all got hard and old and
  soiled by work. Thats why its different
• Bekham, 14 years old, Afghanistan

14

• Every time I go to the mirror and say did I
  change too much? If you buy two t-shirts and use
  one every day and the other one you keep it,
  which one will look older?
• Lavdie, 15 years old, Albania

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• The research also found that demeanour or
  behaviour influences the decision to dispute an
  asylum seekers stated age
• As with physical appearance, behaviour is not a
  good indicator of chronological age
• Some children are viewed as being overly
  confident or too self-assured, others are seen
  as lacking respect for social workers or being
  rude or aggressive
• All of these characteristics are viewed as being
  typical of the behaviour of adults not children ?
  expectation among social workers in particular
  that asylum seeking children will be respectful
  and grateful
• Credibility may also be used as a proxy or
  indicator of whether or not a child is being
  truthful in relation to his or her stated age

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• Then you talk to themsome of them have quite an
  attitude, which suggests they are an adult. We
  take it all into accountthere are a number of
  things you look for. You can usually tell if they
  are a child if they make eye contact. Or else
  its an attitude thing.the sullen ones wont talk
  to you. Especially if they are hiding something
  then they dont trust you to look at them too
  much
• Chief Immigration Officer, Croydon screening unit
• If they are an adult they are likely to be more
  aggressive and evasive. This could be put in the
  report to justify a negative decision
• Social worker

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The implications of age disputes

• There are well-documented problems in the current
  policy approach towards separated asylum seeking
  children which are reflected, for example, in the
  UKs reservation to the Convention on the Rights
  of the Child (CRC)
• Nonetheless there are some concessions granted
  to children as asylum seekers on the basis of
  their vulnerability and needs
• Some of these concessions relate to the asylum
  process itself others to the need for
  appropriate support whilst the application is
  being determined and subsequently
• Age disputed children do not benefit from these
  concessions because they are treated as adults
  unless and until it can be established that they
  are under 18 years of age

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for the asylum process

• Being treated as an adult has implications for
  both the way information is collection and the
  kinds of information gathered
• It also has implications for the way in which
  childrens experiences of persecution are
  assessed by decision makers ? child-specific
  forms of persecution not taken into account
• The dominant interpretation of childrens
  experiences reflects assumptions about
  appropriate activities in which children might
  be involved
• The ways in which childhood is conceptualised
  and understood may also contribute to disputes
  over age e.g. basis of claims suggest that they
  are too young to be politically active, too
  aggressive or too sexual to be children
• As a result children may be detained or even
  removed from the UK as adults

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• There was a group of children. The leader of
  them, he disappeared, and others disappeared.
  They have their nails taken off So thats why I
  escaped and came here to the UKThe Home Office
  looked on the internet about my case and they saw
  that there was a problem. But they said you are
  too young and the government wouldnt kill you if
  you go back. They say Im not young. Its not
  true
• Erbil, 14 years old, Iran

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• Your immaturity was accepted as an indication of
  your age but also makes it unlikely that you were
  politically involved as claimedhe shared no
  serious interest in or real knowledge of
  politics, as of course would be expected of most
  boys of the age he was thenWe regard his claim
  that he helped people to topple the statueas no
  more than youthful bravado and to be unworthy of
  belief
• AIT decision, paragraphs 34, 36 and 37

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for social welfare and child protection

• Some children are dispersed and re-dispersed
  without a formal age assessment being undertaken.
  Treated as adults and accommodated as adults with
  no supervision or support
• There are substantial differences in the quality
  and type of care provided whilst an age
  assessment is being undertaken
• There are inconsistencies in the way in which age
  disputes at 16 are dealt with by the Home Office
• Unresolved disputes or inconsistencies in the
  recorded date of birth can undermine the support
  to which a child or young person is entitled
  (including leaving care services)
• Although the Home Office continues to emphasise
  the risks of placing adults in childrens system,
  there are serious and arguably even greater
  risks associated with placing children in adult
  systems

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for childrens identity, self-esteem and mental
health

• For many children there is evidence that mental
  health difficulties are directly associated with,
  or exacerbated by, the experience of being age
  disputed
• This is because disputes over age bring into
  question the childs past and identity in a way
  that goes beyond the asylum process itself
• Age is an important part of a human beings
  identity. To deny this part of a childs identity
  can have significant and long-lasting
  consequences
• Many children expressed a deep sense of being
  wronged when their age was disputed by either
  social services staff or by immigration officers

23

• The worst thing I can remember they made me sit
  there and like a slave market other immigration
  officers were told to look at me and guess my
  age. It was like Im going to be sold. One would
  say 24, another would say 21. I was told to stand
  up and down. Then they said you are over 18When
  they were deciding my age in that place it was
  like they are going to buy you. It was the worst
  point
• Hassan, 16 years old, Iran

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• I just feel bad about the age assessment but
  it isnt only the age. It just seemed that they
  werent accepting what Im saying as true, its
  not just the age. I just hated those times, it
  was so hard. The worst thing is that people dont
  believe you. You know sometimes there is no point
  in saying something because no one will believe
  you
• Maria, 15 years old, Democratic Republic of Congo

25

• There were two occasions when I really wanted
  to commit suicideI just couldnt believe the way
  the Home Office was bullying me. The kind of
  trauma which it imposed on me was just unbearable
  for me to be honest. It was a traumatic
  experience. I just couldnt believe someone could
  say you are not what you are. I found it really
  offensive that someone could say oh no, I dont
  believe you. It was so dehumanising. No one
  listens to you. No one gives you a chance to say
  what you are thinking. They always think they are
  right
• Michel, 14 years old, Rwanda

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(Re)conceptualising childhood in the asylum
process

• The growing number of disputes over age reflect a
  conceptualisation of childhood in the asylum
  process and particular ideas about how children
  should look and behave
• Separated asylum seeking children are caught up
  in a social and political context that persists
  in dividing the world into those perceived as
  vulnerable and those seen as a threat
• The experiences and views of this group of
  children are rarely captured or heard
• The experiences and views of age disputed
  children suggest that the boundaries of
  childhood are very different in the countries
  from which many children originate but they are
  also flexible and transitory

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Implications for policy and practice

• First and foremost the Home Office needs to
  acknowledge that childhood is a reflection of
  vulnerability and need, not just chronological
  age
• An important first step is to recognise that
  childhood is constructed and experienced in
  different ways in different social, political,
  legal and economic contexts
• The Home Office should follow its own policy
  guidance in relation to age disputed cases and
  give the benefit of the doubt
• Need to separate out immigration control and
  social care functions so that the best interests
  of children as children can be properly taken
  into account
• The age assessment should be a holistic process
  which takes place over a period of time and draws
  on a wide-range of expertise