Oakington Immigration Reception Centre, which is supposed to only hold adult males, has been told it must introduce "robust mechanisms" to identify on arrival all young people who might be under 18 and refer them for assessment, legal advice and appropriate care "without delay". Between January and June this year 46 detainees were found to be under 18, up from 16 the whole of the previous year.
Oakington's latest inspection report, published on Friday, said it "was not clear" that the centre would be able to prioritise the needs of under-18s as the Refugee Council, which carried out much of the monitoring of underage and referral to social services at the site, was about to leave.
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