Mishori Ranit
Department of Family Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
Children (Basel). 2019 Jul 23;6(7):85. doi: 10.3390/children6070085.
Anecdotal reports suggest migrant children at the US border have had to undergo age assessment procedures to prove to immigration officials they qualify for special protections afforded to those under age 18. There are a variety of methods to assess the chronological ages of minors, including imaging studies such as X-rays of the wrist, teeth, or collarbone. However, these procedures have come under great scrutiny for being arbitrary and inaccurate, with a significant margin of error, because they are generally based on reference materials that do not take into account ethnicity, nutritional status, disease, and developmental history, considerations which are especially relevant for individuals coming from conflict and/or resource-constrained environments. Using these procedures for migration purposes represent an unethical use of science and medicine, which can potentially deprive minors with the protections that they are owed under US and international laws, and which may have devastating consequences. We should advocate for the creation special protocols, educate law enforcement and legal actors, ensure such procedures are carried out only as a last resort and by independent actors, emphasize child protection and always put the child's best interest at the core.
轶事报告表明，美国边境的移民儿童不得不接受年龄评估程序，以向移民官员证明他们有资格获得给予18岁以下儿童的特殊保护。有多种方法来评估未成年人的实际年龄，包括影像学检查，如手腕、牙齿或锁骨的X光检查。然而，这些程序因随意且不准确、存在重大误差而受到严格审查，因为它们通常基于未考虑种族、营养状况、疾病和发育史的参考资料，而这些因素对于来自冲突和/或资源匮乏环境的个人尤为重要。将这些程序用于移民目的是对科学和医学的不道德利用，这可能会剥夺未成年人应享有的美国和国际法规定的保护，并且可能产生毁灭性后果。我们应该倡导制定特殊协议，对执法人员和法律行为者进行教育，确保此类程序仅作为最后手段并由独立行为者进行，强调儿童保护并始终将儿童的最大利益放在核心位置。
