Utredningsskyldigheten och asylsökande ensamkommande barn

Sammanfattning: Chronological age is an important part of every person’s identity and in the Western communities it is given that everyone knows how old they are. However, it is not the case for people coming from certain countries in the Middle East where birth records do not exist and where it is highly unusual for someone to celebrate a birthday. Many unaccompanied children from, Middle East apply for asylum in Sweden. Here are they faced with an asylum process where chronological age may be of decisive importance for the question whether they can obtain protection in Sweden or not. The asylum process for unaccompanied children has several advantages in comparison to the asylum process for adult asylum seekers. In order to obtain these benefits declare many adults to be children. Determination if an asylum seekers is adult or a minor is of essential importance in the asylum process for unaccompanied minors which among other thing safeguards that protection of unaccompanied children would not be eradicated. Within the asylum law is a fundamental principle which states that the individual who is seeking asylum will make his or hers need of international protection probable. Despite that, the migration authorities have an expanded obligation to investigate asylum cases because of the presence of the greater need for protection in these cases. This essay aims to investigate how far the Migration Agency’s obligation to investigate age of unaccompanied children in the upper teenage goes. The purpose of this essay is conducted through the children’s perspective. Since the medical age assessments are not regulated by law in Sweden have also other sources been considered by the help of a legal dogmatic method. The Aliens Act has undergone a major reform in the 2000s when it comes to the essay’s area of research. Major changes have been taken thanks to the Migration Court of Justice. Therefore, it was warranted that a critical and proper developmental perspective was applied on the essay. After a general description of the administrations investigative responsibility follow a presentation on the international as well as the EC regulations about unaccompanied child's right of asylum witch has been frequently used through the essay. Thereafter, this essay’s focus moves to the asylum procedure for unaccompanied minors where the different protection grounds and the different phase of the asylum process are undergone. The principle of the children best interests, has been presented in domestic as well as in international context. The various benefits of being an unaccompanied minor in the asylum process are also presented in chapter 4. The descriptive part of this essay ends with a presentation of the Migration Agency obligation to investigate regarding the age of unaccompanied minors in the upper teenage. The last chapter describes various methods of medical assessment.