FRANCE-IMMIGRANTS/MEDICAL TESTS Young African migrants in France undergo controversial bone age testing

Record ID: 147139

  • Title: FRANCE-IMMIGRANTS/MEDICAL TESTS Young African migrants in France undergo controversial bone age testing
  • Date: 15th July 2015
  • Summary: NANTES, FRANCE (RECENT) (REUTERS) OLD APARTMENT BUILDINGS VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF MUNICIPAL BUILDING SIGN READING IN FRENCH: "MUNICIPAL ROOMS" VARIOUS OF UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT MINORS CHATTING IN HALLWAY UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT MINOR SPEAKING WITH RESF VOLUNTEER HANDS OF UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT MINOR RESF VOLUNTEER TALKING TO UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT MINOR YANICK, UNACCOMPANIED MIG
  • Embargoed: 30th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAE39UH0TN1YRZ0DFVKC5E48OPY
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: It took 16-year-old migrant Yanick from Cameroon over a year and several brushes with death to reach Nantes, in Northwestern France.
    Yanick took a gruelling journey that saw him cross the Sahara desert from Cameroon to Morocco, passing through Nigeria, Niger and Algeria and Tangiers, where he made a final trip to Spain in August 2014, before heading to France three months later.
    Like thousands of other African migrants, poverty and limited prospects pushed Yanick to seek a better life in France.
    But once he reached France, he faced another hurdle.
    After he declared his presence at the local municipality in Nantes, he was subjected to several medical tests, which have been deemed controversial by human rights campaigners.
    Some of the tests include an x-ray of the wrists, known as bone age testing, a dental x-ray and a genital exam to determine whether the person is a minor or an adult.
    French authorities have come under heavy criticism for this practice and have been accused of denying minors from sub-Saharan Africa the protection and due process afforded to other unaccompanied children who arrive in France.
    For Yanick, dreams of a better life in France were slowly crumbling.
    "Arriving here was even harder, much harder even and I risked my life at least ten or twelve times but thanks to God, I'm still alive, in good health and I would really like to be able to succeed. That's why I am in France because I love France, it's the country of my dreams but since I've been here, I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm always being frowned upon," he said.
    According to campaigners, French authorities are regularly, if not systematically, subjecting migrant minors to age determination tests even after their documents have been authenticated by border police.
    Under French law, unaccompanied migrant minors are defined as young foreigners under the age of 18 without any family or legal representation in the country and as such, they are entitled to benefits under French child protection laws, which include room and board, schooling and medical coverage.
    France spends approximately seven billion euros every year on child protection services and departments allocate roughly 20 percent of their budget to social aid, which includes child protection services.
    However, these young migrants must first prove that they are, in fact, minors by undergoing an age evaluation, composed of a testimony given to a social worker and verification of their documents by border police.
    A May 2013 memorandum issued by France's justice minister, Christiane Taubira, stated age determination tests are a last resort and are only to be used in extreme cases of doubt.
    But this directive has been largely ignored. The public prosecutor's office or local authorities can request the age determination tests if they dispute the age of someone claiming to be a minor.
    "In every European country, everywhere, it is commonly agreed that it (bone age testing) is absolutely unreliable so they (French government) said, why not add other tests, which are ultimately even more unreliable than that x-ray (bone age test). The panoramic dental x-ray, no reliability, we estimate that there is a bracket of about two years, but it can go well beyond that. And the fact of doing an exam of the genital parts, so undressing them, looking at the size of the areola, the length the pubic hair, has something quite degrading about it," said Dr. Carine Rolland, manager at an NGO Medecins du Monde (MDM), which assists unaccompanied migrant minors.
    According to French authorities, between May 2013 and December 2014, the Ministry of Justice recorded nearly 7600 unaccompanied migrant minor cases in France, with 64 percent arriving from Sub-Saharan African countries, mainly Mali, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    The majority of these minors were male.
    One of the many NGOs in Nantes that assist young migrants in navigating through the judicial and bureaucratic maze is RESF, which earlier this year filed a national petition to ban bone age testing.
    Activists say these children are often isolated and vulnerable, and considered as foreigners first than minors in need of protection.
    "If there is a judicial decision of placement, of protection within the Departmental Council, the Departmental Council generally appeals these decisions because they do not want to have foreign unaccompanied minors to support. So they appeal these decisions and I really think that, yes, the Departmental Council does not consider them as children in need of protection but as, well, we're still obliged to, after all there are judicial decisions, so yes fine, we'll put them up in a hotel, we'll give them food but there you go and above all we appeal so that straight away they get of the service of protection," said lawyer and counsellor Elen Thoumine.
    Efforts by Reuters to get a comment from the French authorities regarding this practice were unsuccessful.
    Back in his small crowded room which is provided by the state, after his successful court appeal declaring him a minor, Yanick reflects on his life.
    Although he said he is happy to have a room to himself and a place to eat, Yanick said he is very concerned about the future.
    "For me, I'm still just at the hotel but being at the hotel doesn't mean that you just stay at the hotel and do nothing with your life. For me, I would like to be at the hotel and be able to at least get some training or do an internship, there has to be at least something so I can say, yes, I'm at the hotel, you leave in the morning, you come back at night like other people and you're doing something with your life at least," he said.
    Even after his perilous journey, Yanick says he has no regrets and hopes to one day call France home.
    In the meantime, Yanick and some of his fellow migrants spend their days sitting in the park.
    But they all share the same fear: their eighteenth birthday, after which they will no longer be entitled to child protection and as adults they will have to face another judicial battle to be able to remain in France.
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