To think only 3 of the 15 migrant children look under 18

[AmyMiller]

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3843900/amp/First-migrant-children-arrive-UK-Calais-French-prepare-raze-Jungle-camp-ground.html?client=safari

This is so ridiculous, many of them look around 25.

A report from a blog called 'Muslim statistics' scares you?

What's your considered opinion of the likely authorial impartiality?

If we start taking unaccompanied 10 year olds from Calais, more unaccompanied 10 year olds will end up in Calais.

We have to be so careful about the precedents we set here.

The people smugglers advertise any successes they have in getting people through.

Not nearly as much as the existence of that website - and people prepared to read and share it - scares, me, I suspect, pregnantat50.

Jesus.

I am not defending the general practices of DM, dont misunderstand me... but this story is awful and if true, cannot be ignored. And I dont want someone to come at me dismissing it, just because its the DM. Shameful.

Yes wookie agreed.

LOL @ Muslim statistics

aforestgrewandgrew

I'm not getting it.

you're the one pretending these men are children and I'm the one not getting it.

FFS

Not even going to look at that daft 'muslimstatistics' report... hardly helpful is it?

So there are actually several levels of checks that go on here. These children were allowed to come over because they have family in the UK that could prove that they were children with documentation. Do you really think it was the 'honour' system where they just trusted people were telling the truth?

actually the Home Office contradicts you and says that the real checks can only be done when they are in the UK and they get here on the word of 2 social workers who say that the "boys" demeanour and appearance is that of a minor.

That article about the 10 year old boy is the DM at its absolute worst.

It is hiding behind a child to cast aspersions on the practice of bringing over any chikdren to be with family.

It is sentimentalising the story of an individual child to ask for an exception fot him, without any care for the consequences for children around of that kind of begging letter appearing in the press.

Why is an unaccompanied child in France alone in the Jungle rather than in care in the rich, civilised country he current resides in?

Why would he be better off in London?

Who is this child speaking for?

It's all nasty and exploitative.

The Times reports today that if they have papers saying they are children that is taken as read (but surely there are heaps of fake papers out there?). Secondly they say they cannot check their teeth (shows age) without a parents' consent! That's not a vaginal examination - surely we could examine their teeht even if they were 10. What parent being offered safety for their child in a Western nation would not allow a dentist or doctor to look at their teeth! Do we want to sit here being conned?

If you truely wish to help those in real need you should be working towards eliminating this country's intolerance and fear of foreigners

we have over 4 thousand unaccompanied minors in the UK right now. We are a diverse and multi cultural nation, it is recognized throughout the world the level of success in our integration within very different cultural societies. We have a very long way to go, its far from perfect....but compared to many other western nations - we are not doing a bad job.

i dislike this othering tone.....trying to write a narrative thats not there and merging issues.

I think its very clear as other countries have done -suspend the family link - this is why people are risking their lives to get here - get a foothold in then have relatives waiting in calais jungle. so close but so far 7 migrants have died this year on the roads around calais.

we simply have to stop this link.

That's hilarious Me2017 - they can't check their teeth without a parent's consent, but they can take them to another country, plus publish their photos in the paper and online?!?

From today's Times newspaper:
"Officials are unable to carry out dental checks because such tests require parental consent. As the “children” are unaccompanied, this permission is in effect impossible to obtain. The British Dental Association said it was unethical to test the migrants’ teeth.

Between 2006 and September 2015, 11,121 age disputes were resolved and of those 4,828 asylum applicants were found to be over 18."

Today's lot of all male "children"

Come on?! Someone's having a laugh here

He's 25 MINIMUM

AIBU to wonder if it's possible that the authorities selected the older looking ones to bring over and parade to curb public sympathy???

Because these children are all 14-17 the authorities will now have to ensure they are looked after by all the mechanisms of the state until they become adults.

So they will have to be placed with foster families - luckily many of these families will have other children whom they can spend time with as this will help their integration. Then they must be found secondary school places so they can go to school with their 14-17 year old peers. Perhaps some of them will even be enjoying their first adolescent dates with the daughters of Mumsnetters soon. What a happy outcome for all concerned.

I'm sure the Daily Mail will be there to document every example of Britain's wonderfully welcoming society and the lovely story of these children's new lives. How reassuring it all is that the Home Office has everything in hand.

In answer to the OP's original question: yes, many of these children do look older than they are, but then I reckon living through war and life in a refugee camp would prematurely age anyone.

Sadly if the bugling idiots of this operation had selected little toddlers and innocent 8 year olds then it would have made a huge difference to the cause. But they chose adults to come over ....

So why can't the People they are happy for them to live with consent?

And if they can't look at teeth what else "can't " they do and just how are they ensuring that the people they are placed with are in fact family?

How come that part of the paperwork is around but not the part with their age?

Are we supposed to believe that?

Have you gone to Specsavers MotherofPearl?

I wondered that scatter

How compassionate someone would actually be if some blatantly twenty something yr old turned up to take their dd to the prom?

Wouldn't mind showing their "racist bigot selfish" side then I bet

The same MNETTERS who dial 101 for a wheeley bin dispute allowing a sleep over or prom date with their 14 olds?

Don't think so do you?