Charities decry UK plan to use AI to assess age of young asylum seekers
More than 100 refugee charities warn AI age checks could wrongly treat children as adults and send them into detention or prison.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
The UK Home Office has contracted AI facial age estimation for disputed asylum age cases, but refugee groups say the technology is too unreliable for children who may be traumatised, undernourished or exhausted. They want it used only as advice, not as the final word.
The UK wants to use computer face-checking to guess if some young asylum seekers are children or adults. The idea is to help decide who gets child protection and who does not.
Charities say that is dangerous because hard journeys, hunger, stress and tiredness can change how someone looks. It is a bit like trying to guess a person’s age from a blurry school photo and then making a huge decision from it.
The government says the tool will help stop people lying about their age. The charities want it used only as a helper, not as the final judge, because a wrong guess could send a child to an adult detention centre.
Analysis
What happened
The Home Office has awarded a contract to use AI facial age estimation on young asylum seekers whose age is disputed. The plan is aimed at small-boat arrivals at Dover, with the government saying the technology can estimate age in seconds from facial photographs already taken.
Why charities are objecting
A coalition of more than 100 refugee and children’s organisations says the move could push more children into adult prisons or detention centres. Their report argues that age assessment is already difficult, especially because many lone child asylum seekers arriving in the UK are 16 or 17.
The consortium does not reject AI outright, but says it should not replace a full age assessment by social workers. It recommends that AI be advisory rather than determinative, and that safeguards include an appropriate adult, legal advice and a right to challenge decisions.
The government’s case
Minister for border security and asylum Alex Norris said the system is meant to stop adults making false age claims and taking support away from children who need it. The Home Office says final decisions will still be made by immigration officers and that the technology will be tested, evaluated and assured before a wider rollout.
The risk raised by critics
Campaigners say the technology may inherit the same problems as human judgment: bias, poor image quality and simple error. They argue that trauma, malnutrition and exhaustion can change how a young person looks, making facial analysis a risky basis for a life-changing decision. The contract is worth £322,000 over three years, and the technology is expected to be rolled out in 2027 if testing goes ahead.
Key points
- The UK Home Office has contracted AI facial age estimation for disputed asylum age cases.
- More than 100 refugee and children’s organisations say the plan could wrongly classify children as adults.
- The consortium says AI should only advise, not replace social-worker-led age assessments.
- The Home Office says the tool is meant to stop false age claims and will be tested before rollout.
- The contract is worth £322,000 over three years, with rollout expected in 2027 if it proceeds.
