NGOs Demand Scrapping of Home Office's Child Age Assessment Board
A coalition of refugee support groups has issued a forceful call for the immediate disbandment of the Home Office's national age assessment board (NAAB), asserting that its operations are endangering hundreds of vulnerable children. The Refugee and Migrant Children's Consortium, comprising more than 100 organizations such as the Refugee Council, Barnardo's, and the NSPCC, released a damning report highlighting severe flaws in the board's methodology and impact.
Traumatic Processes and Mental Health Risks
Established in March 2023, the NAAB employs over 50 social workers to determine the ages of young asylum seekers arriving in the UK, often via small boats. However, the report reveals that the assessment process is described as "far more severe and traumatic" than comparable evaluations by local authority social workers. Children have reported feeling targeted, with some stating that assessors are "out to get them." This adversarial approach has led to deteriorating mental health among minors, including instances of self-harm and suicidal ideation.
If children are incorrectly assessed as adults, they face placement in adult accommodations alongside unrelated individuals, heightening risks of exploitation and harm. Alarmingly, some have ended up in adult prisons after being charged with offences related to their journey, such as steering a dinghy. The report cites a poignant case where a 15-year-old was assessed as 22 by the Home Office, leading to criminal charges that were only dropped after his true age was confirmed last year.
Systemic Flaws and Political Influence
The previous government initiated the NAAB amid concerns about adults "gaming the system" by posing as children. Yet, freedom of information data indicates that many individuals initially declared adults by the Home Office are later verified as children following detailed assessments by local authority social workers. Judges have criticized the NAAB's process as flawed, adversarial, inconsistent with current guidance, and lacking objectivity.
The report raises significant concerns about potential political influence on professional judgment, warning that "the political discourse may influence professional judgment undermining the impartiality required by the code of conduct." An independent chief inspector for borders and immigration identified issues with the NAAB in a report last summer, while a Home Office-commissioned study by the National Centre for Social Research offered a more positive view, albeit with caveats about small sample sizes and evidence primarily sourced from the Home Office and local authorities.
Calls for Reform and Independent Oversight
The consortium's report advocates for the NAAB to be disbanded, with resources redirected to local authorities to enhance their social workers' capacity for age assessments. If the board continues, it demands independent oversight and respect for local authority decisions that accept young people as children without full assessments. Kama Petruczenko, senior policy analyst at the Refugee Council, emphasized, "NAAB was set up to bring consistency to age checks, but the evidence shows it is putting children at risk. Courts have found its assessments flawed, delays are common, and local social workers' judgements are often overridden."
Maddie Harris, founder and director of the Humans For Rights Network, added that children describe NAAB assessments as "interrogatory, hostile and terrifying," noting that the board often assumes individuals are adults and seeks evidence to support this narrative. The Home Office has been approached for comment on these allegations.
