A vulnerable 16-year-old boy has been locked away. He is sharing living quarters with adult men, none of whom have undergone Criminal Records Bureau checks. The people with authority over him are not trained in child-protection issues and have not had their backgrounds checked.
If this 16-year-old were a young offender, such a scenario would be scandalous. But according to Save the Children, some 500 young people a year are detained in these circumstances.
Their crime is that of being an asylum seeker who looks older than they are.
Rona Blackwood, assistant programme director for refugees at Save the Children, says: "Young people are being detained in an adult environment when in fact they are children. The Government is concerned that certain people are saying they are younger than they are to get preferential treatment, so if young people claim they are under 18 they may be age-assessed."
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