Report: Over 1,300 Underage Asylum Seekers Wrongly Assessed as Adults

More than 1,300 underage asylum seekers have been wrongly treated as adults in an 18-months period, a report published on Monday said. The figure covers the duration between Jan. 2022 and June 2023 and was calculated using data released by local authorities via freedom of information requests, according to charities Helen Bamber Foundation (HBF) , Humans for Rights, and the Refugee council, who co-authored the report. The charities also said children have been allowed to share accomodation with unrelated adults or put in adult prisons without safeguard. They called on the Home Office to accept individuals’ claims to be children except in “exceptional circumstances” and not do remove individuals before their age disputes are resolved. They also rejected the government’s plan to use scientific methods to determine age, saying it’s not a solution to the problem....