The revealing evidence regarding the underage testing of illegal immigrants was discussed by Immigration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris on Action 24 on Wednesday morning.

Recall that as protothema.gr wrote yesterday, from the first 104 medical examinations, already 60% have been found to be adults despite their declaration that they are under 18 years old. Speaking on the matter, Plevris stressed that there will be no tolerance for illegals “who are adults and come here to say they are minors.”

The minister noted that these medical examinations have been conducted for the past 1.5 months in cases where the administrations deem that there are doubts about the ages and it does not apply to people whose age is obvious. He said that immigrants are declaring false age because minors are treated differently.

According to Plevris, among the advantages of minors is that they are not deported until they reach adulthood. “In fact, because, through European programs, some say they want to go to school, they can gain a time frame that can go up to 23 years old,” he said. At the same time, he noted that they are not living in detention, while the conditions of residence are different.

Based on the first data reportedly examined by the Secretary General of Asylum Seekers, Dimitris Glymis, in the 104 cases that had been classified as “suspicious” by the directors of asylum structures and services, it was found that:

– 59 persons were adults,
– 10 were actually minors,
– 35 cases are still under investigation.

In addition, a significant number of illegal immigrants refused to submit to the examinations, so, under the legal framework, they were automatically classified as adults.