Being underage and explaining your asylum claim

Being underage can affect how an asylum narrative develops as evidenced by scientific research. It has been found that the ability to construct a “life story” is not achieved until late adolescence or during young adulthood (early 20s). At the same time, experiences such as significant psychotrauma or depression can negatively affect an adolescent’s autobiographical memory (1). This can lead to less specific memories of events.

To illustrate, the following case study. 16-year-old Oscar* grows up with his mother in a country in West Africa. He does not attend school, but is home schooled by his mother. His mother was disowned by her family when she had Oscar as an illegitimate child. Oscar and his mother are happy together. As a bastard, Oscar does get teased and bullied, scolded and humiliated by children in the neighborhood. This makes him feel different and less worthy than others.

When Oscar is 14 years old, he is assaulted by several men as he walks outside on the street. He is beaten, stabbed in the legs with a knife and dragged across the street. He is threatened with death; the men indicate that, as a bastard child, he has no right to live. Oscar is very afraid they will kill him. When people come to see what the commotion is about, the men run away. Afterwards, the men turn out to be the brothers of Oscar’s mother.

Oscar and his mother go to hide with a friend out of fear. There they hide for several months before fleeing the country with this friend’s help. With the help of people smugglers, Oscar and his mother eventually reach Morocco. Along the way, Oscar experiences many unpleasant things. He witnesses how human traffickers abuse and shoot refugees.

In Morocco one night they are picked up and taken to the sea. Oscar does not know what is going to happen or where they are going. There are lots of people by the water and Oscar and his mother have to get into a boat. In the middle of the sea, the boat breaks down; everyone is screaming and Oscar hears his mother calling his name. All the people end up in the water. Oscar is rescued by another boat and taken to Spain. His mother drowns. Oscar is in shock and feels very guilty for not being able to save his mother. Eventually, with help, Oscar travels on to the Netherlands where he applies for asylum.

During the iMMO assessment, it is noticeable that Oscar has difficulty talking about the many upsetting events. He falls silent and prefers not to talk about them at all. He indicates that talking about the unpleasant events evokes memories that he wants to avoid. He is troubled by recurring images and thoughts of his mother. In his dreams she is there and when he wakes up, she is suddenly gone. He also suffers greatly from recurring images of the beatings and threats by the men. Seeing the scars on his legs reminds him of this.

In different places on Oscar’s body, dozens of scars are identified. In accordance with the Istanbul Protocol, most of these scars are assessed as typical of the alleged violence that prompted Oscar’s flight. There are also psychological symptoms that can be related to Oscar’s asylum story. The avoidance, specific re-experiences and triggers for these re-experiences are also typical of Oscar’s alleged asylum story. iMMO’s medical assessment reveals clear supporting evidence for his asylum narrative.

The IND objects to Oscar’s testimony as being insufficiently detailed. iMMO’s file review reveals that Oscar was already struggling with trauma and grief symptoms during the interviews at the IND and that he received psychological help. Oscar also seemed to have difficulty understanding some of the questions during the hearings. The iMMO concludes that both Oscar’s psychological complaints and his young age must be taken into account during the interviews and decision making process, as both affect his ability to explain consistently and coherently.

(1) Autobiographical memory: the part of human memory that allows us to recount what we have experienced (specific and general memories about your own life).

(*) Names are fictitious.