Half of unaccompanied migrants claiming to be children who were retested by a frontline local authority were found to be adults, figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws show, The Sun reported.
The FOI data relates to 19 migrants who had been accepted into Kent County Council‘s care as under-18s but were put through fresh assessments in 2025 after frontline workers expressed doubts about whether they were genuinely minors.
Of those, ten were reclassified as adults. All had been due to be placed in foster care or children’s homes.
How many child migrants does Kent County Council look after?
As the council covering the stretch of coastline where most small boat crossings make landfall, Kent has a statutory obligation to take in and care for any unaccompanied minors who arrive without legal authorisation. The council had 2,656 child migrants placed in its care in 2025.
What did Chris Philp say about child migrants being adults?
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the findings exposed a serious safeguarding risk. “It is completely wrong,” he said. “This puts children already in foster or children’s homes in danger.”
He added: “We have seen absurd cases where illegal immigrants, including where a Sudanese man with a receding hairline and facial hair, pretend to be children when clearly adults.”
Philp also warned the situation was likely to deteriorate following the passage of Labour’s Borders Act, which he said “no longer allows illegal immigrants to be treated as over-18 if they refuse to take an age assessment test.”
What did the Home Office say about child migrant age checks?
The Home Office said:
“The safety and wellbeing of children in care is paramount. We have robust processes to verify and assess an individual’s age.
“We will continue to modernise and strengthen that process in coming months by testing Facial Age Estimation technology.”