AI Age Verification for Asylum Seekers Starting Next Year
A machine learning facial recognition system designed to identify adult migrants who are pretending to be minors is set to be implemented at the UK's borders in the coming year.
A technology firm has received a contract to create and evaluate the system, which will determine an individual's age by examining images captured at the border.
The Home Office states that the technology will help in recognizing adult migrants "trying to manipulate the system," following early tests that showed "encouraging results and precision."
However, Human Rights Watch called on the government to cancel the program, calling it "unverified technology" that could weaken the safeguards that vulnerable children deserve.
Unaccompanied minor immigrants are handled by the welfare system instead of the refugee system, which may facilitate their continued presence in the country.
The choice to implement the software followed years of increased numbers of individuals crossing the English Channel in small vessels and seeking asylum at the border.
A total of 111,084 individuals applied for asylum in the United Kingdom during the fiscal year that concluded in June 2025, representing a 14% increase compared to the prior year.
For the period ending in March 2026, over 6,400 migrants who identified as children underwent age evaluation at the border, with 43% determined to be adults, as reported by the Home Office.
A reportconducted by the UK government's independent immigration inspector last year revealed instances where adult migrants were categorized as children, and situations where child migrants were incorrectly identified as adults.
The report stated that without a "perfect" test, it was "unavoidable that some age evaluations will be incorrect, which is clearly a matter of worry, particularly when a child is denied the rights and safeguards they should receive."
The authorities revealed intentions to implement AI-based facial recognition systems to address this issue in the past year.
Since that time, the Home Office has been examining the application of the technology, and this week, a new contract was given to Akhter Computers Ltd, an IT provider based in Harlow, to implement the program.
The agreement will involve additional testing and refinement of the technology prior to its launch in mid-2027.
The agreement will amount to £322,000 over a period of three years.
The Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris, stated that adult migrants who "make false age claims have taken advantage of the system and redirected essential assistance from children in need."
"That's why we're implementing AI technology to halt this, making sure individuals who exploit the system are recognized, arrested, and removed immediately, while those who need assistance and protection receive it," Norris stated.
Click here to view the interactiveThe Home Office has already conducted evaluations on images of individuals from various ethnic backgrounds and genders, including those who are part of the refugee-seeking community, within its current operational system.
However, test outcomes have not yet been applied to real-time decisions.
The technology is set to be tested for the first time on actual asylum seeker cases at Western Jet Foil, a processing facility in Dover, next year.
Age evaluations for asylum applicants are already conducted by qualified immigration enforcement personnel, who employ techniques like reviewing documentation, X-rays, and MRI scans.
A new facial recognition system will serve as an extra aid for officers at the border when there is uncertainty about an individual's age.
Last year, the UK authorities stated that they had determined the technology to be the most "economical choice" for determining the age of individuals seeking asylum.
However, organizations focused on human rights have expressed disapproval of the Home Office's proposal to implement the technology with minors.
Anna Bacciarelli, a senior AI researcher with the advocacy organization Human Rights Watch, stated: "The government must abandon this fundamentally flawed method of evaluating child refugees."
Testing unverified technology to decide if a child deserves the protections they urgently need and are legally entitled to is inhumane and unacceptable.
Beyond exposing vulnerable children and young individuals to a dehumanizing procedure that erodes their fundamental rights, there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of facial age estimation.
She mentioned that the technology has been implemented in stores and bars up to this point, but not in refugee processing centers, stating that there is "no ethical method to proceed with these plans."
Post a Comment for "AI Age Verification for Asylum Seekers Starting Next Year"