Migrant posing as a 16-year-old boy to claim asylum as an unaccompanied child in France is revealed to be a man aged 47
- Unaccompanied migrant from Guinea handed himself over to police in France
- He claimed to be 16 years old, which would make him able to stay in the country
- But officers uncovered a copy of his passport which revealed he was in fact 47
- The previous day a man from Mali claiming to be 16 was exposed as being 21
A migrant who posed as a 16-year-old boy to claim asylum as an unaccompanied child in France has been exposed as a 47-year-old man, according to reports in France.
The man had presented himself to police in the town of Angouleme, around 70 miles north of Bordeaux, on Wednesday last week.
In order to back up his claim, he presented officers with a birth certificate which purported to show he was born in Guinea in 2002.
A man claiming to be a 16-year-old from guinea presented himself to this police station in France, before being exposed as a 47-year-old
But investigators made contact with Spanish authorities, suspecting that he may have arrived in that country first before crossing into France, Sud-Ouest reports.
Officers in Spain confirmed they were aware of the man’s identity and presented their French counterparts with a copy of his passport that he had used to apply for a visa there in 2017.
The passport confirmed the man was 47 years old, more than three decades older than he had claimed.
French police rejected his asylum claim, ordered him to leave the prefecture and placed him in a detention center in Rennes.
The previous day another migrant, claiming to be a 16-year-old from Mali, had approached the same police station.
The incident happened in the town of Angouleme, where just a day before another man had appeared claiming to be a 16-year-old from Mali when in fact he was 21
A similar check with Spanish authorities revealed he was, in fact, 21.
Under French law, the state has a responsibility to care for all unaccompanied minor migrants, whether they have applied for asylum or not, until they turn 18.
In order to claim accommodation and schooling, minors must apply to the child social assistance service which will assess their age and whether they are genuinely unaccompanied.
If a minor wishes to stay in France after they turn 18, they must then apply for asylum which will be dealt with by a different agency.