According to the Sollefteå municipality, there was no doubt that the three ejected people are adults.
The decision was taken in consultation with the Swedish Migration Board. SVT in the northern province of Västerbotten is nevertheless critical of the municipality still insists that the people to be ejected, despite everything, are in fact children.
"Is a feeling sufficient reason for a child to lose its status as unaccompanied?" questions SVT in a preamble to its article. SVT asks whether it is "correct and safe" to take this kind of decision based on a "subjective judgment." The municipal assessment of refugee children has until now been based on the staff's feelings and experience, such as "looks physically older," and "is asking adult questions."
Correct age assessment has become a large problem for Sweden, where grown-up refugees, sporting beards, are widely reported to abuse the loopholes in the authorities' excessively warm welcoming of refugees in order to harvest more privileges. A growing number of outrageous age manipulation cases has even given rise to the colloquial meme "Stefan Löfven's bearded children" after Sweden's PM currently in charge.
Idag besökte jag ett boende för ensamkommande flyktingbarn. Ungdomarna berättade om vardagen och sina framtidsdrömmar…
Posted by Stefan Löfven on Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Age assessment has been appealed in Sollefteå, and the verdict in the case is believed to set a precedent for its numerous counterparts all over the country.