Society demands an end to age-profiling asylum seekers with dental X-rays

BSPD is speaking out following the news that the Home Office will use teeth and bone X-rays to verify the age of asylum seekers arriving in the UK. The legislation has been approved for practice and came into force on January 10.

The details outline the use of what the Home Office calls scientific methods to be used to assess the age of asylum seekers to the UK using radiographs of molars, hands and wrists, as well as MRI scans of thigh bones and collarbones. Failure to comply can incur penalties.

Paula said, “Age profiling using dental X-rays has absolutely no evidence base whatsoever. This wholly inaccurate approach to assessing the age of those seeking asylum in this country is morally wrong because it means that vulnerable children will be exposed to unnecessary radiation without any clinical benefit.