UK Home Office Deploys AI Age Estimation System for Asylum Seekers Despite Human Rights Concerns

Summary

The UK Home Office has awarded a £322,000 contract to Harlow-based IT supplier Akhter Computers Ltd to develop and deploy an artificial intelligence age estimation tool at the country's borders by mid-2027. The system will analyze photographs of asylum seekers to identify adult migrants falsely claiming to be children, addressing concerns that some migrants have exploited the system to access child protections including legal support and housing in the care system rather than asylum accommodation.

The government framed the move as necessary after Home Office data showed that 43% of over 6,400 migrants claiming to be children underwent age assessment at the border in the year ending March 2026, with many found to be adults. The Home Office stated that initial testing of the technology demonstrated "promising performance and accuracy" across different ethnicities and genders, and described it as the most "cost-effective option" for age assessment.

However, the announcement has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch urged the government to scrap the scheme, calling it "unproven technology" that risks undermining protections for vulnerable children. The criticism echoes findings from the UK's independent immigration inspector, which noted that without a "foolproof" test, some age assessments will inevitably be wrong—a particular concern when children are wrongly denied legal protections they are entitled to. The technology will be trialled for the first time on live cases at Western Jet Foil processing centre in Dover starting in 2026.

• Human rights groups warn the technology is unproven and risks harming vulnerable children by denying them legal protections and support they may legitimately be entitled to
• Government data shows 43% of asylum claimants identified as children in year ending March 2026 were actually adults, driving the case for automated age detection