Legal and Ethical Challenges in Age Assessment of Asylum Seekers: Personal Data Protection Implications in the EU

Despite the strong effect of the objectives and principles of the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC), the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation 2016/679) has failed to achieve a uniform data protection policy throughout the European Union, the necessary legal certainty, and the protection of human beings concerning the processing of personal data, which is the objective of the Regulation. In this context, this article offers reflections on some of the ethical and methodological issues involved in the age assessment of unaccompanied minors who are asylum seekers. Focusing upon ethical approval problems and using a variety of methodological tools (such as studying articles of international references, taking interviews from experts, and making visits to NGOs) I demonstrate forward key recommendations in which the age assessment can be conducted with the respect of the best interest of the child and without any legal or moral dilemmas. The suggestions proposed in this article are sustainable for at least for the following five years and tailored to the needs and experiences of the children involved. This article aims to present an innovative database system, which will be established and controlled under the auspices of the European Union and record all the entries and exits of asylum seekers who declare to be unaccompanied minors, since their arrival at α Reception and Identification Center of a member state of European Union. Lastly, because medical age assessment is done for no therapeutic or medical purpose, many medical experts view it as extremely intrusive and unethical, particularly when done by radiography. It is crucial to do an ethical assessment of the dental age estimation carried out by these radiographic techniques using the four biomedical ethics principles (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice).