UK to test AI tool at borders to spot adults posing as child migrants

The Home Office will test an AI facial recognition tool next year that estimates a person's age from photographs taken at the border.

The department awarded a contract to Harlow-based Akhter Computers Ltd to develop and refine the system before a planned rollout in mid-2027. Officials say the tool will help identify adult migrants who claim to be children.

Initial tests showed what the Home Office called promising performance and accuracy. In the year ending March 2026, more than 6,400 migrants who said they were children underwent age assessments, and 43% were later found to be adults.

Human Rights Watch called on the government to drop the plan, saying the technology is unproven and could weaken safeguards for children.

Unaccompanied minors are routed into the care system rather than the asylum process. The Home Office said adult migrants making false age claims have taken support meant for children at risk.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said the technology will ensure those who game the system are identified, detained and removed, while those who need protection receive it.

Age assessments are already conducted by trained officers using documents, X-rays and MRI scans. The new tool is meant to serve as an extra check when a person's age is uncertain.

The technology will first be trialled on live asylum cases at Western Jet Foil in Dover. The Home Office has already tested the system on images of people from different ethnicities and genders that match the asylum-seeking population.