On 20 November 2024, Parliament heard about the problems faced by separated children who come to this country escaping war or persecution. Border Force officials often assign them the wrong age at the UK border.
Parliament hosted the event on World Children’s Day and the 100th anniversary of the League of Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It was led by the Refugee Council and the University of Southampton and highlighted this urgent problem, which leaves hundreds of refugee children at risk of exploitation and abuse.
Baroness Lister of Burtersett chaired the event, alongside experts from the University of Southampton (Dr Ingi Iusemen and Professor Jana Kreppner) and the Refugee Council (Kama Petruczenko).
What goes wrong?
Parliamentarians and experts heard how Border Force officials often misclassify children as adults, especially after a brief visual assessment.
These mistakes force minors into the adult asylum system, where they share spaces with adults and leave them without the protections that all children need.
- Lack of Data: Existing data on age-disputed cases is selective and fails to capture the full impact and safeguarding risks. Home office policies prioritise identifying adults pretending to be children rather than protecting minors.
- Impact on the System: Misclassification disrupts asylum claims and complicates local authorities’ care planning, straining resources.
- Excessive Age Assessments: Some children undergo many assessments, causing unnecessary trauma and adding cost without ensuring better outcomes.
- Impact on Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing: Age assessments negatively affect children’s mental health and well-being, often causing distress, trauma, and feelings of mistrust and insecurity.
Age assessments negatively affect children’s mental health and well-being, often causing distress, trauma, and feelings of mistrust and insecurity.
We need to put the safety and well-being of separated children first.
What Needs to Change?
Speakers proposed practical, cost-effective reforms that align with the best interests of children, including:
- Avoiding unreliable biological methods for age determination.
- Improving port-of-entry assessments with independent oversight, audio-visual recording, and local authority notifications.
- Empowering local authorities and the Department for Education to take the lead in age assessment policy.
- Establishing a robust right of appeal, replacing the inadequate judicial review process.
Key Data
Available official data reveals an alarming rise in age disputes, with 5,179 cases reported in 2024—a 21% increase from 2023. Most resolved disputes determined individuals to be under 18, spotlighting systemic errors.
We need urgent change to protect separated children who arrive in the UK alone, to uphold their rights and ensure they receive the right care and support. Our current policies are driven by suspicion – instead, we need to put the safety and well-being of separated children first.
Further reading
- University of Southampton research: Trauma-Informing the Asylum Process Guidelines and Recommendations Co-developed with Young People Seeking Asylum
- University of Southampton research video: https://vimeo.com/notwfilms/review/1026807007/282e5e79a2
- ISWS, Young Roots, PLP research: Good Decision-Making in Age Assessments
- Refugee Council, Helen Bamber Foundation, Humans for Rights Network, research: Forced Adulthood: The Home Office’s incorrect determination of age and how this leaves child refugees at risk.
- RMCC briefing on age disputes
