SMALL boat migrants who claim to be children are being given the benefit of the doubt by immigration staff – despite more than half turning out to actually be adults.
A report has found that workers show a “lack of curiosity” about the real age of asylum seekers arriving across the Channel.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said: ‘Accurately assessing the age of individuals is an incredibly complex and difficult task’Richard Townshend Photography
AI tech is set to be rolled out in 2026 which can accurately assess how old a person really is.
Currently, anyone who says they are under 18 are treated as minors unless they look “significantly” older.
In one case highlighted by Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Bolt, an Iranian national who had grey hairs was treated as a child despite assessors thinking he was probably around 22.
In 2024, over half – 56 per cent – of the individuals who claimed on arrival to be children were either later assessed to be adults or admitted that they were 18 or over.
The two-day training given to assessors “instructs officers that they should always give the benefit of the doubt to the individual where they are not sure about someone’s claimed age and do not judge them to be significantly over 18”.
The report states that a Vietnamese national was “initially given the benefit of the doubt” as a child because workers said he had a “soft face”.
Another officer then raised concerns about his age because of his “developed shoulders”, “huge hands” and a “tiny bit of stubble”.
In other assessments “arrogance” was used as a sign that a migrant was an adult.
One Iranian national presented with some grey hairs and black stubble on his face and claimed to be 17.
Despite being assessed as actually 22 years old, he was “given the benefit of the doubt” and treated as a child pending further assessment.
It is acknowledged by the report that it is not always possible to assess the age of a young person through their physical appearance or demeanour, because different life experiences can stunt growth or change behaviours.
David Bolt made eight key recommendations to the Home Office on the age assessment process, including reviewing the training given to officers by the end of year.
In response, the Government accepted all recommendations and pointed out that they are rolling out Facial Age Estimation technology next year pending a trial.
It has been trained on millions of images where an individual’s age is known.
Dame Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, said in a written statement: “Accurately assessing the age of individuals is an incredibly complex and difficult task, and the Home Office has spent a number of years analysing which scientific and technological methods would best assist the current process, including looking at the role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology can play.
“In a situation where those involved in the age assessment process are unsure whether an individual is aged over or under 18, or do not accept the age an individual is claiming to be, Facial Age Estimation offers a potentially rapid and simple means to test their judgements against the estimates produced by the technology.”
A procurement process is currently underway with the new tech set to be integrated into the current system “over the course of 2026”.
More than half of Channel crossing migrants claiming to be children are turning out to be adults (stock picture) Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
