The use of dental x-rays to determine the age of child refugees has been repeatedly proposed by ministers and then dropped over the past 15 years. Practical as well as ethical considerations show that the idea cannot work; children are not “date stamped”. Four years later,his successor, Dame Sally Davies, forced the UK Border Agency to suspend a renewed attempt to use dental x-rays when it became clear that they had not sought ethical permission for the programme. In sub-Saharan Africa, 64% of births go unregistered, and in South Asia 65% of all births go unregistered. But the Home Office say they have confirmed that those who have come are under 18 and have every right to be in Britain.

Source: The Guardian October 19, 2016 12:58 UTC