{"id":191741,"date":"2025-11-21T01:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/191741\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T01:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:28:13","slug":"state-no-reporting-on-false-claims-of-asylum-minors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/191741\/","title":{"rendered":"State: no reporting on false claims of asylum “minors”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The database of the office where asylum claims are registered do not allow for reporting on the number of instances a person claiming asylum has claimed to be a child but was subsequently found to be an adult, the Minister for Justice has told Carol Nolan TD.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The issue of verifying the age of those who claim to be unaccompanied minors when seeking asylum has drawn increased public attention after the brutal murder of a Ukrainian teenager allegedly carried out by a Somalian who claimed to be under-eighteen but who An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na now suspect is not a juvenile but an adult male.<\/p>\n

Deputy Nolan asked the Minister for Justice, who also has responsibility for Migration, \u201cthe number of times a person seeking international protection initially claimed to be a child but who was subsequently found to be an adult for each year since 2021 to date in 2025\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response, she was told that the International Protection Office (IPO) databases \u201cdo not allow for reporting on cases where the ages of applicants were, or are, under dispute\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of third rate data deficient systems are we operating at all?\u201d Deputy Nolan told Gript today. \u201cThis should be basic information, easily accessible and to hand when requested. Instead we have the usual blather about being unable to provide the information sought.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is critically important information that we need to have if we are to have the slightest hope of ascertaining a trend on the number of adults posing as children within the asylum process,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The reply to Deputy Nolan said that: \u201cWhen an applicant presents as an unaccompanied minor, the International Protection Office refers the individual to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency who assess their needs and eligibility for services. Tusla may then decide that an application for international protection should be made on behalf of the minor\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn cases where Tusla have determined an individual is not eligible to access their services, the individual\u2019s application is managed through the process as an adult, and accommodated as such.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IPO databases do not allow for reporting on cases where the ages of applicants were, or are, under dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Independent TD for Offaly has previously stated that the age-verification processes within the asylum system are \u201cnot merely deficient but dangerously unreliable\u201d and called for a \u201ccomplete overhaul\u201d of the State\u2019s approach to the matter.<\/p>\n

A 17-year-old Ukrainian, Vadym Davydenko, died after being subjected to a \u201cfrenzied attack\u201d and suffering multiple stab wounds to his head, eyes, chest and hands inside an apartment in Grattan Wood, \u00adDonaghmede, on October 15.<\/p>\n

Mr Davydenko had been in Ireland for four days and the apartment was a Tusla facility for unaccompanied minors who are seeking asylum.<\/p>\n

The person who has been charged with the murder of Mr Davydenko is Somalian and was also in the Tusla apartment but is now believed by Garda\u00ed to be and attended his second court hearing on October 21st surrounded by five garda\u00ed in helmets and protective gear.<\/p>\n

Deputy Nolan said that: \u201cIt is becoming more and more self evident that our age verification processes within the international protection system are not merely deficient, but dangerously unreliable. We need a complete overhaul of how we approach this issue. If in doubt, keep them out, of child services\u201d.<\/p>\n

Aont\u00fa Leader, Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn, has also called on the Minister for Children to provide answers as to why the suspect in the murder of Vadym Davydenko was placed in a children\u2019s residential care unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has come to our knowledge that the suspect in the murder of Vadym Davydenko may well be an adult. We understand that there is documentary evidence to show that the suspect is an adult. We also understand that there are physical tests being undertaken on the suspect that may well show that he is an adult. If this is the case there are serious questions to be answered as to the ability of the International Protection system to identify those who seek asylum in this country. We are being told by the IPAS services that the identity and the background of each individual is known. That is clearly not the case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are serious questions here also for the Minister for Children. This is not the first time adults have been placed in accommodation for unaccompanied minors. There is a massive child protection question here. If any other organisation were placing adults in children\u2019s accommodation Tusla themselves would have major problems with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In August 2024,\u00a0it was revealed<\/a>\u00a0that the Department of Children had \u201cflagged concerns\u201d that \u201cin some cases, adults were claiming to be under 18 years of age in initial interviews with staff from the International Protection Office\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

Some adult asylum seekers may be claiming to be minors when arriving in the Republic, adding to \u201csevere demands\u201d on an already under-strain system for unaccompanied child asylum seekers, internal department briefings have warned.<\/p>\n

Briefing notes from department officials state that these asylum seekers were later \u201cassessed\u201d to be adults, \u201cor report afterwards that they are adults\u201d. This was \u201cadding to the already severe demands\u201d on the system, the briefing said.<\/p>\n

When a person claiming asylum alleged they were a minor, the preliminary interview with international protection staff was suspended and the person was \u201cimmediately referred\u201d to Tusla, the child and family agency, the briefing stated. There was a need for international protection officials to conduct \u201ca more in-depth interview\u201d before the case was handed over to the Tusla team responsible for unaccompanied minors, it stated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The briefing notes\u00a0were released under<\/a>\u00a0FOI to Aont\u00fa\u2019s Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn. At the time, Tusla said that the assessment by social workers of asylum seekers who claim to be under 18 looked at their journey, family network and personal and social development. \u201cIn some instances, the young person is determined not to be eligible, but wherever doubt exists the benefit of the doubt is given,\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n

Tusla said last year that in 2023, 40% (171\/432) of unaccompanied minors admitted to care\/accommodated in 2023 were from Ukraine. The remaining 60% (261\/432) of children were from about 30 different countries with the most common being Somalia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Algeria, Congo, Pakistan and Nigeria.<\/p>\n

On December 31, 2024, there were 448 unaccompanied international protection applicant\/Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection children\/young people accommodated in Tusla supported services.<\/p>\n

And they said that \u201capproximately three quarters of newly arrived unaccompanied children are aged 16 and 17 on arrival to Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deputy Nolan last year asked then Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, to provide data on the number of cases involving age-disputed minors identified by the international protection services and by any other relevant body under the aegis of her Department dealing with international protection, asylum and refugee claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere it appears to the International Protection Office (IPO) that an applicant is a minor, the person in question is referred to Child and Family Agency (TUSLA). TUSLA undertakes an assessment for eligibility for services and, for those deemed to be unaccompanied minors, TUSLA support the young persons in making an international protection application,\u201d the Minister responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been cases where TUSLA have deemed a young person not eligible for services and the young person has then completed an application for international protection as an adult. In some instances additional information comes to light during this application process which requires a further age assessment to be undertaken. This would happen, for example, where evidence of their minority is provided through identity documents. The IPO databases do not allow for reporting on cases where the ages of applicants were, or are, under dispute\u201d.<\/p>\n

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