Sweden: 90% of Moroccan 'Child' Migrants Are Actually Adults, Report Shows
Most unaccompanied 'children' from Morocco are older than they claim
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90 percent of migrants from Morocco, who are claiming asylum in Sweden, are actually adults, a new report shows.
A large number of Moroccan nationals arrive in European countries claiming to be "unaccompanied minors."
For those arriving in Sweden, however, it turns out that most of these claims are false, according to a report by Swedish broadcaster SVT.
Unaccompanied child migrants are far more likely to be granted asylum from the government and usually receive additional benefits such as free housing and education.
In the last seven years, around 1,800 single Moroccan men have applied for asylum in Sweden.
In the last year, however, due to close cooperation between the Moroccan and Swedish government, the number of single adult male asylum-seekers has fallen to about 55 this year.
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According to VOE, Christian Frödén, the group manager of the immigration and border authorities in Stockholm has lauded the collaboration between the two countries as Moroccan police have allowed their counterparts in Sweden to access their country’s fingerprint database.
While commenting about the cooperation between the two countries, Frödén said, “When we find their identity they leave the country and move on to other cities in Europe such as Barcelona or Paris.
"They do not want the police to know who they are because then they can be punished and be expelled to Morocco.”
Recent figures reveal that an overwhelming majority of Moroccan migrants who come to Sweden claiming to be children – a status which grants them more rights and greater protection – are actually adults.
A Moroccan migrant who goes by the name of Ali came to Sweden last year claiming that claiming to be just 16 years old.
Authorities later found out that he was actually 22 years old.
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While speaking with SVT, Ali told reporters that other migrants had told him that he would have a better chance of receiving social benefits from the Swedish state if he lied about his age.
However, after the authorities discovered he was an adult through the Moroccan fingerprint database he was relegated to a life of homelessness and began engaging in petty crime to sustain himself.
“There is no future in Sweden. I know that the Migration Board will say that I do not have the right to be here and that I must leave Sweden,” Ali said.
He also told reporters that he was looking into leaving Sweden for Belgium where he claims to have connections that would allow him to make money selling drugs.
However, he added that he didn’t have the money to pay for a bus ticket to get there.
Sweden isn’t the only country in the European Union whose authorities are actively cooperating with the Moroccan police to identify adults migrants claiming to be minors.
Last year in France, police arrested 1,500 Moroccan migrants who allegedly involved in criminal behavior.
Unfortunately, however, French authorities were only able to deport six of them.
