Children who arrive alone in the UK are regularly disbelieved about how old they are and can spend many years without access to education or appropriate support, or end up in unsupervised accommodation with adults or in adult immigration detention centres, the Coram Children's Legal Centre said upon the release of a report last week.
The report Happy Birthday? Disputing age of children in the immigration system examines the age assessment process and the practical and emotional impact of age disputes on young people in the immigration system.
According to the Coram Children's Legal Centre, the report reveals the human cost of a process that can be too long, too adversarial and fails to adequately consider the needs of the individuals involved. It highlights the impact on local authorities and the courts, and the financial cost of a system in which litigation is so often the only means of resolution.
Judith Dennis, Policy Officer, at the Refugee Council said: "This report reveals some of the economic and personal cost of age assessments, the extreme of which is a child locked up in immigration detention because of a mistaken belief that he is an adult. Preventing this from continuing must be at the centre of any new approach. The state's desire to control immigration should not override the safety and welfare of children."
You can download the report here.