The United Kingdom will use artificial intelligence to estimate the age of asylum seekers starting next year in a bid to identify adults posing as children at the border, but the initiative has drawn criticism from human rights groups and social workers, reports Anadolu.

According to the Interior Ministry, facial age estimation technology will analyze photographs taken during the registration process to help officers assess whether migrants who claiming to be under 18 are actually adults.

The system, developed under a £322,000 ($432,000) contract awarded to IT company Akhter Computers, will be further tested before it goes live in mid-2027.

The government says initial trials show “promising performance and accuracy” and argues the tool will help in preventing abuses of the asylum system. Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said adult migrants who make false declarations of age have “misused the system and taken vital support away from children at risk”.

The system is expected to be trialled in real cases at the Western Jet Foil processing center in Dover next year, where officials already carry out age checks through documents, appearance and interviews.

But the plan has raised concerns from human rights organizations and professional bodies. Human Rights Watch warned that the approach is unproven and risks weakening protections for vulnerable children.

The move comes alongside the findings of a government inspection report calling for better training, stronger data sharing and greater cooperation with external parties in the Home Office’s age assessment system.

The report also warned that current processes could lead to both treating adults as children and misclassifying children as adults, creating “significant” security risks.

Source: prizrenpost