Title: Forestillinger om de andre i norske landinformasjonsdokumenter
Abstract: Country-of-origin information is an important assessment tool in asylum administration and determination, relied on by caseworkers as well as courts in questions regarding asylum claims. Credibility is especially paramount in asylum assessments. Therefore, country-of-origin information and documents need to capture a holistic picture of conditions in asylum seekers’ countries in order for caseworkers to make informed decisions in their evaluations, and asylum-seekers’ situations are accurately portrayed. However, prior research has found that the preparation of country-of-origin information tends to reinforce an established asymmetry in asylum administration whereby lived experiences are weighted less than verifiable information (Van der Kist & Rosset, 2020). Using a practice-oriented document analysis and postcolonial theory, this chapter explores how country-of-origin information documents describe various aspects of Afghan society, and the notions of young Afghans that emerge as a result. Furthermore, the chapter investigates how these are entangled with previous colonial logic and political discourses in contemporary Norway connected to unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.