Two-thirds of UK 'child' refugees quizzed are actually adults

http://bit.ly/2IFkpW3 | The analysis reveals that in just one year 65 percent of asylum seekers who were assessed after claiming to be minors were judged to be over 18.

Immigration watchdog David Bolt reported that the Home Office received 2,952 asylum applications from unaccompanied children and of that there were 705 age disputes.

Of the 618 cases which were actually resolved 402, or 65 percent, were found to be adults.

Councils and local taxpayers could have been left facing a care bill worth millions of pounds a year if the asylum seekers were treated as children.

The statistics come amid growing concern Britain's policies on refuge for child victims of war, humanitarian disasters and terror are being abused.

Mr Bolt is the independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and published the findings into the Home Office's treatment of lone child migrants.

This department specifically relates to young migrants who have sneaked into Britain stowed away in lorries, trains or ships without a parent or carer and have then claimed asylum.

When a refugee does not have a birth certificate or other travel documents then a Home Office screening officer will determine if they are a child based on their "physical appearance and demeanour".

Official rules state that if the person does not appear to be 'significantly' over 18 then they are 'afforded the benefit of the doubt and treated as children' until they are assessed.

This is to prevent the risk of a child migrant ending up in adult accommodation or detention.

However, this means that on some occasions some adults had been treated as children and potentially posed as a risk to school children, foster families or other children in care.

Since 2006 there have been 12,942 disputes over the ages of child asylum seekers, Home Office figures reveal.