Migrant children could be mistakenly sent to Rwanda if the Home Office wrongly decides they are adults, campaigners have warned. The Refugee Council raised the concerns after highlighting errors it claims were made in some of the department’s age assessments for youngsters who have sought asylum in the UK.
The charity said it had “already had to intervene to stop children who were incorrectly assessed as adults from being detained awaiting removal to Rwanda”. It called on the Government to make sure no child deemed to be an adult by the Home Office is “threatened” with deportation to the east African nation until a “professional assessment” by a social worker had taken place.
The Home Office previously insisted lone migrant children would be exempt from being sent to Rwanda, although families could be in line for removal. It comes as Channel crossings resumed after a five-day hiatus.
