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From January 2021 to the end of March this year the Home Office has resolved 2,520 cases after it suspected someone who claimed to be an unaccompanied child was actually an adult – 1,626 (65 per cent) of them were found to be 18 or over.
The figures also show more than half of those claiming to be unaccompanied children from the start of 2018 were actually adults. The total number of resolved cases since then is 4,814, with the applicant found to be over 18 in 2,722 (56 per cent) of cases.
In a written Parliamentary response about the issue, Kevin Foster, Tory MP for Torbay, said: “Immigration officers operating at the border perform a difficult but vital function in preventing abuse of the immigration system and protecting genuine children from the safeguarding risks associated with allowing adults to access safe spaces which are properly reserved for children.”
The number of people claiming to be unaccompanied children rocketed at the end of last year as Channel crossings increased.
In the last quarter of 2021 there were 794 resolved cases and 510 (64 per cent) of those were found to be adults. In the same quarter in 2020 just 225 cases were resolved with 128 (55 per cent) found to be adults.
In June 2021, Kent County Council, in a formal letter to the Home Office, refused to accept any more unaccompanied child migrants after warning its services were at breaking point.
Alp Mehmet, chairman of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said: “Adults claiming to be children have long been given the benefit of the doubt. That is why traffickers and migrants have long used it as their ploy to get into the UK and stay.
“It is a costly and dangerous gap in our defences. Ahmed Hassan, the Parson’s Green bomber, lied to stay here. And adults being placed among children doesn’t bear thinking about.”
A further 23 people crossed the Channel in a small boat on Friday as the Government confirmed it was pressing on with plans to send migrants to Rwanda. It brings the total who have made the crossing this year to 13,124, compared to 6,659 by this point in 2021 and 2,459 in 2020.
* Article from: express.co.uk
