UK to deploy AI age estimation for asylum seekers from next year

AI will be used to estimate age of asylum seekers from next year - BBC News

Image source, PA Media

ByJoshua Nevett

Political reporter

Published

29 May 2026, 00:05 BST

Updated 8 hours ago

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) age estimation tool that aims to detect adult migrants posing as children will be deployed at the UK's borders next year.

A software company has been awarded a contract to develop and test the technology, which will estimate a person's age by analysing photographs of them taken at the border.

The Home Office says the technology will make it easier to identify adult migrants "attempting to game the system", after initial testing indicated "promising performance and accuracy".

But Human Rights Watch urged the government to scrap the scheme, describing it as "unproven technology" that will undermine the protections vulnerable children are entitled to.

Unaccompanied child migrants receive support from local councils and are housed in the care system rather than more traditional asylum accommodation such as hotels.

They are entitled to legal protections which can simplify the asylum application system and make it easier to stay in the country for longer.

The decision to use the software comes after years of heightened levels of people crossing the English Channel in small boats and claiming asylum at the border.

A total of 111,084 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2025, 14% more than in the previous year.

In the year ending March 2026, more than 6,400 migrants claiming to be children were age assessed at the border, with 43% found to be adults, according to Home Office data.

A report, external carried out by the UK government's independent immigration inspector last year found cases where adult migrants had been classified as children - and cases where child migrants had been wrongly classified as adults.

The report said in the absence of a "foolproof" test, it was "inevitable that some age assessments will be wrong, which is clearly a cause for concern, especially where a child is denied the rights and protections to which they are entitled".

The government announced plans to use AI facial estimation technology to combat this problem last year.

Since then, the Home Office has been exploring the use of the technology and this week, a new contract was awarded to Harlow-based IT supplier Akhter Computers Ltd to deliver the scheme.

The contract will see the technology further tested and developed before being rolled out in mid-2027.

The contract will cost £322,000 over three years.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris, said adult migrants "making false age claims have exploited the system and diverted vital support away from children at risk".

"That is why we are rolling out AI technology to put a stop to this, ensuring those who game the system are identified, detained and removed without delay, and those who deserve support and protection are given it," Norris said.

Tap the questions below

How many people cross the English Channel in small boats?

Between 1 January and 25 May 2026, a total of 8,565 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France. This was down by 37% on the same period the previous year.

These crossings have become the most common way for people to be detected entering the UK illegally since 2020.

Nearly all those who arrive by small boat claim asylum. Under international law, this means they are allowed to stay in the country while their asylum application is considered.

Small boat arrivals made up 42% of asylum applications between April 2025 to March 2026.

Boats that arrived in the UK from 26 May 2025 to 25 May 2026 carried an average of 65 people. This has more than doubled since 2021.

Experts say overcrowding in boats makes crossings riskier. At least 84 people died while attempting to cross the Channel in 2024, according to the United Nations (UN).

When looking at the scale of small boats crossings, the number of these arrivals is about 5% of the size of total immigration into the UK from January 2025 to December 2025.

The government has pledged to “smash the gangs” behind these crossings in order to reduce the numbers.

Who is arriving in the UK on small boats?

People from Eritrea accounted for 18% of all arrivals from April 2025 to March 2026.

In the latest figures covering January 2025 to December 2025, at least 2,000 people who arrived by small boat were found to be potential victims of human trafficking or other forms of modern slavery, according to the Home Office.

How else do people stay in the UK without permission?

Another 4,535 people were detected entering the UK without permission via other methods including hiding in vehicles, travelling on ferries or through airports from April 2025 to March 2026. This was down by 22% on the same period the previous year.

There are also individuals who arrive legally, for example via a work or study visa, and then overstay their limit.

The total number of people who live in the UK illegally after arriving legally is not known.

The Home Office has already carried out testing on images of people across different ethnicities and genders, including those that make up the asylum-seeking population, already in its operational system.

But test results have not been used for live decisions yet.

The technology is expected to be trialled for the first time on live cases of asylum seekers at Western Jet Foil, a processing centre in Dover, next year.

Age assessments of asylum seekers are already carried out by border force officials who use methods such as examining documents, appearance and demeanour to make an initial decision on age.

The new facial estimation technology will act as an additional tool to support officers at the border when a person's age is in doubt.

Social workers undertake assessments on asylum seekers claiming to be children, when their age is disputed by border officials.

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is warning that the government's plan to use AI in the assessment process will lead to major safeguarding mistakes.

"Assessing the ages of migrants is a complex process which social workers are best placed to do," said Professor Sam Baron, interim CEO of BASW.

"This important task should not be open to shortcuts through artificial intelligence, especially as the pitfalls of getting it wrong can lead to major safeguarding risks."

Last year, the UK government said it had concluded that the technology was the most "cost-effective option" to assess the age of asylum seekers.

But human rights groups have criticised the Home Office's plans to use the technology on children.

Anna Bacciarelli, a senior AI researcher at campaign group Human Rights Watch, said: "The government needs to scrap this deeply flawed approach to assessing child refugees.

"Experimenting with unproven technology to determine whether or not a child should be granted protections they desperately need and are legally entitled to is cruel and unconscionable.

"In addition to subjecting vulnerable children and young people to a dehumanising process that undermines their human rights, we don't actually know if facial age estimation works."

She said the technology had been used so far in shops and bars but not refugee processing centres, adding there was "no ethical way to move forward with these plans".

Correction: An earlier version of this story said age verification is carried out by trained immigration enforcement officers using X‑rays and MRI scans. The Home Office says it has the power to use these methods but does not currently do so.

Artificial intelligence

Refugees and asylum seekers

Home Office

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