The number of asylum seekers falsely claiming to be children has quadrupled in the past decade, the Daily Mail can today reveal.
Home Office statistics show the number of asylum seekers found to be lying about being under 18 was 224 in 2014 but has now spiralled to more than 1,000 as record numbers now pretend to be minors.
Campaigners warn that many arrivals destroy their identification documents before reaching Britain in a desperate attempt to cheat the system.
Child refugees cannot be deported and have the rights to the same healthcare, education and sustenance as British children.
They are also provided housing by local councils instead of the Home Office, often in independent living arrangements or in foster homes.
The countries with the most unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) coming to the UK in 2024 were Sudan (1,188), Afghanistan (679), Iran (598), Vietnam (414) and Syria (369).
Alp Mehmet, of Migration Watch UK, told the Daily Mail: ‘We have long highlighted the serious risks to children’s safety when adults posing as minors are placed among actual minors.
‘Although powers exist to carry out scientific age-assessment tests in disputed cases, there is little evidence that they are ever used.
Hellbound and Down 
One thought on “Alarming figures show the number of asylum seekers falsely claiming to be children has quadrupled in the past decade”