Charities outrage at Suella Braverman’s ‘harmful’ child migrant X-ray plans
The IndependentEmbattled home secretary Suella Braverman is to push ahead with controversial plans that risk forcing vulnerable child refugees to undergo X-rays to prove they are not lying about their age. The Home Office later said that her comments related to an announcement in January, when her predecessor Priti Patel was the home secretary, that “new scientific methods” would be used to assess the age of asylum seekers. In both countries, two certified experts will carry out the age assessment and must jointly agree on the person’s age.” In France, X-rays are taken “to examine the fusion of the collar bone, alongside dental and wrist X-rays, while in Greece, dental X-rays are used alongside social worker assessments.” Ms Braverman said the checks were necessary because when it came to Albanian migrants the majority were adult males, “not by majority women or children or elderly people, and this claim of being a child is something that we are going to clamp down on.” "In the new year, we will be delivering more robust age assessment procedures so that there will be less abuse of this very problem," she pledged MPs. They don’t understand why the Government is challenging their age, it causes them great anxiety.” She added: “The Government’s plans for the Home Office to take over the age dispute process and to use methods such as x-rays have already been criticised by experts, including evidence that it will produce inaccurate results causing more harm to young refugees. It’s time the Government ditched the rhetoric and adopted a kinder, more compassionate approach to age disputes.” Zehrah Hasan, advocacy director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said that children seeking sanctuary in the UK should be treated with “care, compassion and dignity”.