Contested Bodies of Asylum-seeking Children

Abstract

In this chapter, we draw on evidence from research with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to explore the multiple ways in which the contested features of unaccompanied minors’ bodies work to influence and shape their everyday lives. During our research, it quickly became clear that their bodies are contested sites. In a variety of ways, their status as asylum-seekers, their skin colour and their perceived age marked them out, structured their experiences and regulated the resources available to them. We focus here on three issues. First, we examine issues associated with the asylum system and the cultural politics of asylum in order to demonstrate the negative influence that the workings of this system and the stereotypes associated with those seeking asylum have on the experiences of unaccompanied minors. Second, the racialising of unaccompanied minors’ bodies is outlined, showing how there appears to be a racialised hierarchy that influences their everyday experiences and structures how they use services and are treated by others. Third, we explore the issue of official age assessment to highlight the complexity of this process and the risks associated with it in terms of the children’s experiences of and access to services.