X-ray tests to reveal real age of migrants

BORDER Force officers are set to use X-ray technology to confirm the age of asylum seekers arriving in boats across the English Channel.

A UK Government document seen by The Mail on Sunday reveals how the Home Office is planning to use medical scans to verify the ages of migrants who claim to be children.

It follows a string of high-profile cases in which would-be asylum seekers falsely claimed to be under 18. One spent six weeks as a Year 11 pupil at a school in Ipswich in 2018 before the local authority discovered that he was in fact years older.

The UK is one of the few countries not to use science to check the ages of asylum seekers, according to the document. At present, social workers study the behaviour and language of those claiming to be children to assess whether they are telling the truth.

But X-rays of teeth and wrist bones can give a more accurate picture of a young person’s age.

Home Office research has discovered that up to 54 per cent of migrants claiming to be children were over 18.