Large majority of migrant ‘kids’ in Denmark are adults

In Denmark, unaccompanied minors have several advantages over adults, including the possibility of reuniting with their parents in Denmark.

The DIS then asked the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Forensic Medicine (Retsmedicinsk Institut) to run age tests in order to verify the claims made by migrants who have requested asylum.

Using X-rays of their teeth and finger bones, the institute concluded that at least 600 of those tested were actually adults while they pretended to be younger than 18.

The number of age tests requested by DIS have doubled for 2016 from the previous year, which was in itself a record year for age verifications. The Department of Forensic Medicine confirmed that it would likely have to perform a thousand age tests by the end of the year.

But Integration Minister Inger Støjberg denied that asylum system was failing her country and said the large number of cheats is actually proof that the Danish asylum system is working well to filter out cheats.

“The Danish Immigration Service makes a major effort to expose those who are cheating and is also working on how it can happen even faster,” she told Jyllands-Posten.

But the head of asylum at the Danish Refugee Council disagreed. “There are many of these young people who don’t know precisely how old they are because it is not something that is registered in their home countries in the same way as it is in Denmark,” Eva Singer told Jyllands-Posten. She accused the DIS of irregularities.

The DIS denied irregularities in their estimations and explained that “if the [age test] result’s most likely span is 18-19, for example, and the applicant as report 17 years, then we set the age at 17 years,” Teresa McNair said, quoted in a written statement to Jyllands-Posten.