A pilot project from the Metropolitan Police that started last week has already uncovered evidence that airlines are bringing unaccompanied children into Britain without knowing who is going to look after them, or without receiving instructions from parents and carers in their country of origin.
Officers from the Met's Child Abuse Investigation Command have been given a designated area in Terminal 3's immigration control to run the project, which started last Friday (15 October) for one week and will be followed by another week in early December.
Where airlines have guidelines in place, unaccompanied children arriving at Heathrow are taken by airline staff to immigration. There, immigration officers check details of their sponsors, the people they are going to stay with while in the country. Airline staff then escort them through arrivals.
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