More fears over real age of 'child migrants' coming from Calais
as facial recognition analysis shows one may be as old as
THIRTY-EIGHT
Concerns over the age of child refugees from Calais intensified yesterday
One migrant with blue hoodie was found to have features of a 38-year-old
He was one of 14 to be bussed to Croydon from the notorious Jungle camp
Home Office stats reveal 65% of those checked last year lied about age
Concerns over the age of child refugees from Calais intensified yesterday, as a second group arrived in London.
One migrant in particular, wearing a blue hoodie with stubble on his chin, was rated by a facial recognition program as having the features of a 38-year-old.
He was one of 14 to be bussed to Croydon from the notorious Jungle camp shanty town before it is demolished by the French authorities.
They followed 14 who arrived on Monday, as Britain works to reunite unaccompanied youngsters from war-torn countries with family members in the UK.
But it has emerged the Home Office has no way of verifying the migrants’ ages before they come to Britain, stoking concerns about adults posing as children to take advantage of the scheme.
Figures released yesterday reveal that two-thirds of ‘child’ refugees who were quizzed by the Home Office about their age were found to be adults.
Last night an immigration source said the blue-clad migrant had told officials he was under the age of 18.
‘He says that he is a minor and that he has fled the war in Afghanistan,’ the source said.
‘He says he has an older brother living in the UK. That is why he has been allowed to come here.
These are NOT innocent little children
‘It has been chaotic and slow here today. The computer system crashed at least once, so there has been a lot of waiting around.’
Officials insist the migrants have undergone rigorous interviews and document checks to establish they are aged under 18.
But it has emerged that this is simply a screening process where they are verified as a child based on their 'physical appearance' and 'demeanour', with social workers signing off an 'age assessment'.
A Home Office spokesman admitted that routine medical tests, such as checking dental records, have not been carried out because it could be 'intrusive'.
They added that children may appear older 'because war has toughened them up'.
But in the year ending September 2015, 590 age disputes were raised against asylum seekers claiming to be under 18.
Of that number, 574 were put through screening and 371 were found to be adults lying about their age - or 65 per cent.
Since 2006 there have been more than 11,000 age disputes with almost 5,000 'children' actually adults.
Home Office guidance says an asylum seeker should be treated as an adult if their physical appearance or demeanour 'very strongly suggests' that they are significantly over 18 years of age'.
It adds careful consideration must be given to assessing whether an applicant falls into this category as they 'could be liable for detention'.
Whitehall sources said some of the children look older because they have been aged by war, which had ‘probably toughened them up, so they’ve grown up a bit quicker’.
Britain is taking in dozens of youngsters from war zones including Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan.
As unaccompanied children, they are entitled to move to the UK under EU asylum law if they have families in Britain.
But the Home Office does not begin rigorous verification of their claimed ages until after they arrive in Britain, charity workers have told the Mail.
Until then, UK officials largely rely on checks made by charities working in the Jungle.
But after the blue-clad migrant’s photograph was widely published online yesterday, some wondered about his age.
Analysis of his picture by Microsoft’s face recognition program How Old Do I Look? suggested he had the facial features of a 38-year-old, although the software company cautioned it was just an estimate.
And Dr Ross Perry, medical director of the Harley Street skin clinic Cosmedics, said: ‘It is very difficult to assess someone’s age based on just one photograph, but I would guess he is late 30s to early 40s.
'The wrinkles around the eyes are the tell-tale sign, and the loss of volume in the cheeks.
‘He doesn’t look like a child. But then if he has been living in a war zone, it could well have aged him prematurely, and it is impossible to know without meeting him.’
As he left the immigration centre in Croydon last night, the migrant in the blue hoodie was clutching a piece of paper entitled: ‘Application for biometric resident permit.’
The 14 youngsters were taken to temporary foster homes, where they will stay until social workers have interviewed their British-based relatives to ensure their homes are safe for them to live in.
Last night Tory MP David Davies said: ‘This is just a joke. Some of these people are clearly not children, they’re not even young men.
'This one has got lines around his eyes, lines on his face and what appears to be flecks of grey in his hair.
‘There is no way of knowing if someone is a child. We could end up causing even more misery if we are not careful. We should invite anyone who wants to come to the UK to take dental tests.’
Conservative MP Peter Bone told MailOnline he was worried ‘knee jerk’ moves to bring children from Calais to Britain could make things worse.
Mr Bone, former chair of the all-party group on human trafficking said: ‘One of the dangers we found when looking at trafficking was they would say they were visiting relatives – uncles, aunts for example – and it turned out they were not family members.
‘They often then disappeared and were then re-trafficked.
‘I am very dubious about this idea there are lots of children who somehow found their way to Calais and they have relatives in this country.
‘I would have thought there is huge potential there for very nasty trafficking gangs to be involved.’
The Wellingborough MP said children in Calais should be treated the same as any other young person who arrives at a British port without papers.
He said people who are 18, 19 or 20 are not children being reunited with family members but are young adults.
He said: ‘It’s an area where the Government should proceed with great caution and should not be swayed by a public opinion which is uninformed.
‘I understand people are doing it for the right reasons.
‘If someone was coming into this country through an airport, under normal processes, and they did not have documents, there are detailed ways we can work out their age.
‘We would do that so they get the can get the appropriate support. I have a feeling, I worry, that there is a knee jerk reaction to public opinion making things worse, not better.’
Fellow Tory Ranil Jayawardena, a member of the Commons’ home affairs select committee, added: ‘People will be very surprised.
They expected young children to be saved from the Jungle and supported by the British Government and a real effort to help the most vulnerable. Instead, we seem to have helped grown adults.’
But Alp Mehmet, of the MigrationWatch think-tank, said the migrants should be given the benefit of the doubt.
He added: ‘To most people, these people will seem older but they will say, “Is it any surprise I look like that after what I have been through: fighting in the hills and being tortured and travelling thousands of miles?” You have to be circumspect and inclined to give the benefit of the doubt unless there is good evidence to suggest they are a lot older.’
Claims of asylum must normally be made in the first safe country a migrant arrives in, but under a law known as the Dublin Regulation, children with family in the UK can ask for their asylum claim to be considered here.
THE HOME OFFICE HAS NO SAFE WAY TO CHECK AGE
Despite bringing child refugees to Britain, the Home Office has no failsafe way of guaranteeing that they are actually under 18.
Amid fears that adults are posing as minors, it emerged that officials do not carry out medical tests – subjecting migrants instead to rigorous interviews.
Home Office officials in Calais work with French authorities to ensure applicants qualify under the Dublin Regulation, which lets children lodge asylum claims if they have close family here.
If a refugee does not have a birth certificate, a screening officer can certify them as a child based on their ‘physical appearance and demeanour’. Unless the refugee appears ‘significantly’ over 18, they should be ‘afforded the benefit of doubt’.
Meanwhile in Britain, the child migrants’ relatives will be contacted by staff trained to spot inconsistencies in accounts. On arrival, the children will be assessed and screened again.
On medical tests, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health guidance states ‘age determination is extremely difficult to do with certainty because it is an inexact science’. Dental checks are also inconclusive, with a margin of error of around two years.
Similar care must be taken with bone-age x-rays, with the RCPCH saying differences ‘may be due to differences in the timing of the onset of puberty’.
Link to Article - Photos:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... alais.html
When I think of a vulnerable child - I think of one under 10 years old who cannot fend for himself/herself - not a wrinkled old man who is far too old to be my toyboy
