Over 1,100 migrants have falsely claimed to be children in an attempt to dupe the system and claim asylum over the past year according to official figures.
Two out of three cases where age was disputed and resolved were found to be 18 years or older in the 12 months to September.
It is the highest proportion since the Home Office began recording the figures in 2006. The average for the past five years was 55 per cent.
Migration Watch UK, a think tank that campaigns for lower immigration, said the figures exposed the need for tougher age assessment checks. In one case a balding man in his forties was placed in a school alongside children.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, announced a crackdown on adult asylum seekers who pose as children in order to be treated more favourably.
Official figures say than 29,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year — there were 8,420 last year. Yesterday 36 migrants crossed in one boat, with the French stopping a further 72. On Christmas Day 67 migrants crossed in two small boats. This month 1,700 have crossed, eight times as many as December last year.
An asylum seeker who claims to be under 18 is treated as an adult only if they appear over 25. Patel has vowed to tighten the threshold to those who look “significantly over 18”.
Migration Watch UK has claimed that the Home Office has watered down the plan by dropping it from the Nationality and Borders Bill, which is due in the House of Lords next month.
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch, said: “The risks to the safety of our children are obvious. It is high time the government stopped pandering to the immigration industry and dealt with adult migrants as such and not as what they claim to be.” However, the Home Office said it had removed the clause from the bill only because it no longer needed primary legislation to make the change after winning a legal challenge in the Supreme Court.
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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