Teenage asylum seekers left in limbo by age disputes

A growing number of under-18s seeking asylum in Scotland have been unlawfully recorded as adults and left in hostels for months with no help, the BBC has been told.

Support agencies said they had seen a "massive increase" in such cases.

It leaves young asylum seekers in limbo, unable to access benefits because their age is disputed.

Support agencies said it meant they were vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation and street homelessness.

Home Office guidelines state those seeking UK asylum who claim to be children must be given the benefit of the doubt until a full assessment is completed which usually takes about six weeks.

BBC Scotland spoke to Kwame, who was 17 when he arrived in Glasgow. He had travelled from Africa where he had been kidnapped and forced to work for no pay.

Kwame, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he travelled from Libya to Italy in a small boat.

"There were too many people," he says. "I was so afraid. I will never forget the water, the waves, and the water filling up in the boat. Then a helicopter came. We were rescued."

Because his age was disputed, Kwame could not claim asylum nor access benefits

He travelled from Italy to Glasgow in the back of a lorry thinking that in Scotland he would reach a point of safety.

"The police caught me and put me in a hotel," he said.

"Two days later social workers came. They asked my age. I said I was 17. After 10 minutes they said 'you are not under 18' and just left. I said to them 'I know no-one here'.

"It was so cold. I didn't know the language. I was so worried."

Dispute claim

Because his age was disputed he could not claim asylum nor access benefits. He said he didn't even have a jacket for the Scottish winter.

"I did not know who to speak to," he said. "I had no money, no clothes. I could not sleep. I was so cold. I was so alone.

"I was not having a shower because I had no clothes to change into. I was suffering so much I was even thinking of suicide."

If the authorities agree that someone is under 18, the minor is entitled to support and the local authority effectively takes over as their parent.

But where there is a dispute and no agreed date of birth, young people can be left in limbo.

Because Kwame's age was disputed he could not claim asylum and could not claim any benefits.

It was when he was visiting a food bank that he was noticed by a charity and referred to a lawyer who took his case to judicial review.

The authorities then agreed he was under 18 and he is now being looked after, but he has spent months "scared" and "alone" in a hostel.

There is no proven scientific way of determining someone's age and accepted good practice is for specially trained social workers to conduct a series of assessments before arriving at a decision.

Lawful age assessments take weeks to conduct and must be carried out by two social workers with an appropriate adult present. Earlier this year the high court in England found quick age assessments done on arrival in Kent just by glancing at minors were unlawful.

But agencies say short - otherwise known as glance - age assessments are still taking place. Simply by looking at someone claiming to be a child, social workers judge their age as above or below 18.

The Home Office's own figures show that the number of age disputes almost trebled last year from 853 to 2,517.

Support agencies say unlawful age assessments are a growing problem in Scotland, partly because of Covid, but also because of increasing pressure on social work and a lack of local places and resources.

Lawyers in Glasgow have taken several judicial review cases in Scotland and won but say the assessments are increasing regardless.

In the past three years one agency had 31 young people who had been told they were adults referred to them from four Scottish local authorities. More than half have since been accepted as children.

Andrew Sirel said the young people he worked with very often end up homeless on the streets

Lawyer Andrew Sirel said the young people he worked with very often end up homeless on the streets.

"They have no access to support, accommodation, they cannot work," he said.

Mr Sirel says that the ages of young people were quite often determined after a 20 to 30-minute meeting.

He says that if there is a dispute they can't get their asylum claim registered and they don't get support.

"Very often they're left street homeless, destitute and are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation," he says.

Kwame is now fully cared for by the local authority and is going to college to learn English. He hopes to become a lorry driver when he is older.

Glasgow City Council said: "Age assessment is a complex and skilled task and routinely takes up to six weeks. It is carried out professionally and carefully, and never at a glance.

"Where further assessment is required, accommodation and support will be provided until the conclusion of an assessment. It would be inappropriate to comment in any detail on an individual case but no-one would be in homeless accommodation without food, support or money."

The Home Office said where there is doubt the individual should be referred for a careful law-compliant age assessment and treated as a child in the meantime. It said: "The government is committed to protecting children and the vulnerable, but we cannot allow asylum seeking adults to claim to be children - this presents a serious safeguarding risk."

It said the age assessment process aimed to balance the need to ensure that children are given the support they need, while ensuring adults are not accommodated with them.

The Home Office said age-disputed cases remained a very challenging area of work in which no single assessment technique was likely to determine an individual's age with precision.

When there is doubt, the individual will be referred to a local authority's social services department for a careful, law-compliant age assessment, it said, and they will be treated as a child until a decision on their age is made.