On 12 October 2022, Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid (Fenix) received the Final Report of the Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer in response to the complaint[1] submitted on behalf of three unrecognised minors in December 2020, regarding their wrongful registration as adults.

On 4 December 2020, three unrecognised unaccompanied minors submitted, with the support of Fenix, a complaint to the Fundamental Rights Officer (FRO) due to their wrongful registration as adults by Frontex officers during the reception and identification procedures in the KYT Moria (commonly known as Moria Refugee Camp) in December 2019. During their registration, the applicants stated they were 16 years old and unaccompanied. However, none of them were registered as their stated age, had their rights explained or were referred for an age assessment. On the contrary, their statements were received with indifference and they were registered with an arbitrary age of 18 or older, up to 22 years old.  

The failure to correctly register the three applicants as minors has resulted in knock-on effects in almost all aspects of the lives of these three children - from inhumane and degrading living conditions to lack of access to education, and denial of procedural guarantees during the asylum procedure. The applicants were also not eligible for the designated safe sections of KYT Moria nor specific shelters for unaccompanied minors, and were instead left to find their own accommodation in the makeshift homes surrounding the official KYT Moria, which had no more capacity. Furthermore, after the KYT Moria burned down, they were not included in the evacuation of unaccompanied minors and were forced to sleep on the roadside from 9 to 20 September 2020, without continuous access to food and water.  They were then forced to reside in the new KYT Mavrovouni (commonly known as Mavrovouni Camp) in a large shared rub hall for single adult men.

Between December 2020 and September 2021, two of the applicants were recognised as minors at the time of the age assessment, and one was found to be between 18 and 20 years old, meaning that he was likely a child when he arrived on Lesvos.

On 12 October 2022, the FRO held that “[…] as to the relevant legal basis, which regulates the identification procedure of claimed unaccompanied minors and legally binds the host and participating Member States as well the Agency, […] states that when officers doubt the age declared by the undocumented person to be registered, the principle of “presumption of minority” should prevail and the situation should immediately be notified to the national authorities to start the age assessment procedure”. In addition, the FRO declared that “[i]n line with the Manual of standard operating procedures applicable to the reception and identification centres in Greece, the Hellenic Police assess the age of the third country nationals with the assistance of the Agency staff, by means of the persons’ official document and in the absence of those, the age is registered based on the person’s own declaration […]” and in case of doubt “written recommendations are given to the RIC Commander, who refers the person to the Medical Screening and Psychosocial Support Unit for age assessment.”.

Further, the FRO recognised that instructions given by the Hellenic authorities to Frontex staff as to the registration of unaccompanied minor migrants must be in line with national, European, and international legal provisions to “[…] guarantee in a timely manner respect for the best interests of the child and ensure their special rights […]”. Where the instructions are opposite to the legal provisions, Frontex agents “[…] are obliged to report a possible violation of fundamental rights as a serious incident, in case they receive knowledge of, witness or are directly involved in such an incident.”.

Finally, the FRO, in its recommendations, reiterated the presumption of minority and clarified that “[w]hen, during the registration procedure, a person claims to be a minor, even without presenting supporting documents, the officers shall consider that person as a minor…” and “[i]t is paramount that throughout this process the officers ensure respect of the presumption of being a minor of persons claiming to be minors, by treating them as such.”

Fenix welcomes the observations adopted by the FRO in its Final Report on the responsibilities of Frontex agents and Hellenic authorities towards unaccompanied minors. Nonetheless, Fenix expresses deep concern that unaccompanied minors continue to be denied access to the asylum process and reception conditions that they are entitled to as children due to wrongful registration, at the failure to apply the presumption of minority, and, in cases where age assessments are carried out,   at the improper age assessment procedure [2].

Fenix calls on the Greek authorities and the Frontex agents responsible for the reception and identification of asylum seekers on Lesvos to:

1. Apply the presumption of minority principle as required by national, European, and international law to any applicant declaring to be a minor at registration, and
2. Conduct age assessment procedures according to the required legal standard.