Facial Recognition used to spot adult migrants posing as children

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15857699/AI-facial-recognition-spot-adult-migrants-posing-children.html

AI facial recognition used to spot adult migrants posing as children to 'game the system'

A new AI facial recognition system that can spot adult migrants pretending to be children will be rolled out next year - to the fury of human rights campaigners.

The new technology is intended to make it easier to find adults trying to 'game the system' by getting into in the care system as opposed to the asylum system, often an easier path to staying in the UK.

An IT firm has now been awarded a £322,000 contract by the Home Office to provide 'an algorithm that can accurately predict the age of a subject', according to an official notice published today.

Harlow-based Akhter Computers are set to test and develop AI technology to be able to estimate a person's age by assessing images taken of them at the border. 

The system is expected to be used alongside existing methods of age estimation, with the Home Office saying it had shown “promising performance and accuracy” in initial tests.

In the year ending June 2025, 111,084 claimed asylum in the UK - an increase of over 14 per cent when compared to the year prior. 

A group of people arriving at the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent on May 27, 2026

It comes as the Home Office has awarded a contract to a tech firm to develop AI facial recognition to determine the age of migrants arriving at the English Channel

More than 6,400 migrants claiming to be children were assessed for their age at the border, with nearly half found to be adults in the year ending March 2026.

Last year the UK government's independent immigration inspector discovered there were several incidents where both migrant children and adults were classed in the wrong age group.

It added that it was 'inevitable that some age assessments will be wrong' in the absence of a 'foolproof' testing method. 

It added that the current room for error in age assessments of migrants was 'a cause for concern' particularly in incidents where children were denied rights and protections 'to which they are entitled'. 

The Home Office has been testing the technology on various images of people from different gender and ethnicities, including those of asylum seekers, in its system. 

But the results have not yet been used to determine the outcome of any live cases. 

The new system will tested in asylum seeker cases at the Western Jet Foil processing centre in Dover next year. 

Currently, trained immigration enforcement officers carry out age assessment using various procedures such as X-rays, MRI scans and documents. 

But the Government has since determined the AI recognition was the most 'cost-effective option' of analysing an asylum seeker's age. 

Border Security and Asylum minister 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.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15857699/AI-facial-recognition-spot-adult-migrants-posing-children.html