“Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination Process
This article describes and analyzes an emerging problematic in the asylum and immigration debate, which I cynically dub the “imposter-child” phenomenon. My preliminary exploration maps how the imposter-child relates to and potentially influences the politics and practices of refuge status determinat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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York University Libraries
2016-11-01
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| Series: | Refuge |
| Online Access: | https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/40371 |
| _version_ | 1818927228787884032 |
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| author | Stephanie J. Silverman |
| author_facet | Stephanie J. Silverman |
| author_sort | Stephanie J. Silverman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article describes and analyzes an emerging problematic in the asylum and immigration debate, which I cynically dub the “imposter-child” phenomenon. My preliminary exploration maps how the imposter-child relates to and potentially influences the politics and practices of refuge status determination in the United Kingdom. I argue that the “imposter-child” is being discursively constructed in order to justify popular and official suspicion of spontaneously arriving child asylum-seekers in favour of resettling refugees from camps abroad. I also draw connections between the discursive creation of “imposter-children” and the diminishment of welfare safeguarding for young people. Further complicating this situation is a variety of sociocultural factors in both Afghanistan and the United Kingdom, including the adversarial UK refugee status determination process, uncertainty around how the United Kingdom can“prove” an age, and a form of “triple discrimination” experienced by Afghan male youth. Through unearthing why the “imposter-child” is problematic, I also query why it is normatively accepted that non-citizens no longer deserve protection from the harshest enforcement once they “age out” of minor status. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T03:09:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-388fd636c42245e583d16f4c732423ed |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0229-5113 1920-7336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T03:09:41Z |
| publishDate | 2016-11-01 |
| publisher | York University Libraries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Refuge |
| spelling | doaj.art-388fd636c42245e583d16f4c732423ed2022-12-21T19:55:30ZengYork University LibrariesRefuge0229-51131920-73362016-11-0132310.25071/1920-7336.40371“Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination ProcessStephanie J. SilvermanThis article describes and analyzes an emerging problematic in the asylum and immigration debate, which I cynically dub the “imposter-child” phenomenon. My preliminary exploration maps how the imposter-child relates to and potentially influences the politics and practices of refuge status determination in the United Kingdom. I argue that the “imposter-child” is being discursively constructed in order to justify popular and official suspicion of spontaneously arriving child asylum-seekers in favour of resettling refugees from camps abroad. I also draw connections between the discursive creation of “imposter-children” and the diminishment of welfare safeguarding for young people. Further complicating this situation is a variety of sociocultural factors in both Afghanistan and the United Kingdom, including the adversarial UK refugee status determination process, uncertainty around how the United Kingdom can“prove” an age, and a form of “triple discrimination” experienced by Afghan male youth. Through unearthing why the “imposter-child” is problematic, I also query why it is normatively accepted that non-citizens no longer deserve protection from the harshest enforcement once they “age out” of minor status.https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/40371 |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie J. Silverman “Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination Process Refuge |
| title | “Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination Process |
| title_full | “Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination Process |
| title_fullStr | “Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination Process |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination Process |
| title_short | “Imposter-Children” in the UK Refugee Status Determination Process |
| title_sort | imposter children in the uk refugee status determination process |
| url | https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/40371 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stephaniejsilverman imposterchildrenintheukrefugeestatusdeterminationprocess |