Child refugees ‘still being locked up’

Child refugees are still being locked up by the immigration service which wrongly classifies them as adults, a report claims.

Young people can be left seriously damaged by their detention with some suffering mental health difficulties as a consequence, it warns. Some highly vulnerable children who arrive in the country unaccompanied are held for weeks before officials accept they are not adults, it found.

The report, published this week by the Refugee Council, raises concerns about the number of age dispute cases more than two years after the government vowed to end the detention of children for immigration purposes.