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The UK government plans to introduce an AI facial recognition system at its borders next year to help distinguish adult migrants falsely claiming to be minors. This technology will analyze photos taken at the point of entry to estimate an individual’s age. The initiative aims to address the challenge posed by adults attempting to pose as children to access different legal protections.
A tech company has been contracted to develop and trial the software, with testing already showing “promising performance and accuracy,” according to the Home Office. The department believes this AI tool will help prevent misuse of the system, where some migrants try to gain an advantage by misrepresenting their age. The contract has been awarded to Akhter Computers Ltd, an IT supplier based in Harlow, and involves a £322,000 investment spread over three years. The software is expected to be operational and rolled out in mid-2027, initially being trialed at the Western Jet Foil processing center in Dover.
Despite the government’s confidence in the technology, concerns have been expressed by human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch described the use of this AI as relying on “unproven technology” that threatens to undermine the rights and protections that vulnerable child migrants deserve. Anna Bacciarelli, a senior AI researcher from the group, stated, “Experimenting with unproven technology to determine whether or not a child should be granted protections they desperately need and are legally entitled to is cruel and unconscionable.” She emphasized that the technology, while used commercially in places like shops and bars, has not yet been ethically applied to refugee contexts.
Current age assessments for asylum seekers at the border involve trained immigration enforcement officers using medical scans, document reviews, and other methods. The newly introduced facial recognition technology is intended as an additional aid in situations where a migrant’s age is uncertain. The government has justified this approach by noting the increasing numbers of asylum claims—recording over 111,000 claims in the year ending June 2025—and the significant proportion of people claiming to be minors who are subsequently found to be adults. A recent Home Office report highlighted the difficulty of age assessments, noting there is no “foolproof” method, which can unfortunately mean some children are wrongly classified. Nonetheless, officials believe this AI tool offers a cost-effective means to improve accuracy in these difficult determinations
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