Migrants face X-rays to detect adults claiming to be children

MIGRANTS could have their bones X-rayed to prove their age under new powers to prevent adults claiming to be children to boost their chances of asylum.

Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is to unveil a series of amendments to her National and Borders Bill that include sanctioning “scientifically verifiable” methods to check the age of migrants.

It is expected to include X-rays of forearm bones, which are said to be the most accurate way of estimating the maturity of a child’s skeletal system, using a database of images from children of the same gender and age.

The move would bring Britain into line with other EU countries and the US, which use similar methods including dental X-rays.

They are expected to be used only on those suspected of lying about their age to enter Britain. A specialist unit is to be set up by the Government to carry out expert assessments.

Previous proposals to use dental X-rays to verify the age of migrants have provoked criticism from doctors who say they are inaccurate and that it is unethical to take radiographs of people without a health benefit. However, Home Office analysis shows that 55 per cent of asylum seekers who claimed to be children over the past five years proved to be over 18. Of the 598 age disputes that were resolved last year, 61 per cent were ruled to be adults.

One of the most infamous cases of a migrant lying about their age to enter Britain was the Parsons Green bomber.

Ahmed Hassan pretended to be 16 and posed as a “model asylum seeker” before setting off a “Mother of Satan” bomb on a Tube train, injuring 69 people.

Hassan’s real age remains unknown. But the judge who jailed the Iraqi for 34 years in 2018 said he was satisfied he was over 18 but probably no older than 21. The Old Bailey was told he “cynically exploited to the full the generosity and naivety of the system”.

Other examples of apparent deception include a balding male who appeared to be in his 40s and was being taught in a Coventry school. The unnamed asylum seeker, believed to be from Gambia, was moved to solo lessons in December last year after parents complained.

“A lot of European countries already use these age verification techniques. We want to bring the methods we are using in line with them and improve the scientific validity of them. At the moment, we only use social services checks,” said a government source.

There has been a five-fold increase in the number of unaccompanied children entering Europe, according to Eurostat. Unlike adults, they are taken into council care on arrival in the UK and mostly placed with foster families if under 16.

The Home Office will also propose closing a legal loophole that allowed Shamima Begum, the IS bride, to challenge the decision to remove her citizenship because she was not given prior notice even though she was in Syria.

The amendment to the Bill will scrap the requirement so that the Home Secretary will be able to strip suspected terrorists of their citizenship without informing them in advance.

Ministers will also give counter-terrorism officers greater powers to investigate Channel migrants suspected of links to terrorism. They will extend schedule seven of the Terrorism Act which covers ports and airports to enable them to stop, search, question and detain any migrant.

The Bill follows a record surge in the numbers of migrants crossing the Channel.

‘A lot of European countries already use these age verification techniques’