According to Refugee Council, between January and December 2021, 233 young asylum seekers were incorrectly deemed to be adults by the Home Office. Further assessment by local authority social workers proved 219 of them to be children, it adds.
The Refugee Council currently runs an Age Disputes Project, which supports children seeking asylum in the UK involved in such disputes, providing advice and support to various children determined to be adults by the Home Office or local authority.
The project found that 94 per cent of those initially found to be adults were actually under 18 years old, which its report argues “challenges the view put forward by government that the problem is primarily that many of those who claim to be children are not”.
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