Zarah Sultana MP on Twitter - "The enemy of the working class travels by private jet, not migrant dinghy."
Asylum seekers fly in on private jets | The Sunday Times - "Ten days ago 16 people claiming to be Afghan refugees arrived at Heathrow in a plane hired at a cost of about £15,000. It had left Moscow at 3am, carrying the nine men and seven women who claimed to have entered Russia after travelling by road and rail from Afghanistan via Tashkent. However, it has emerged the Heathrow flight was just the latest case in which asylum seekers have hired private planes to circumvent immigration checks they would face on scheduled flights or at sea ports. The Home Office has revealed one flight carrying nine people arrived at Heathrow on August 23, also from Moscow. They claimed to be Tamils from Sri Lanka who had travelled to Russia from India. .. A third private plane carrying a number of asylum seekers had also landed at Gatwick in August, the Home Office said. It gave no further details... Tincey said the advantage of avoiding such checks was that once asylum seekers were in Britain they could stay even if they had false paperwork"
Iraqi asylum-seekers fly into Germany on private jet using forged passports - "A family of Iraqi asylum seekers tried to enter Germany on a private jet using fake diplomatic passports... The family's lack of language skills was suspicious because French is a common diplomatic language and English a global language... the family was taking refuge from a strict grandfather who wanted the young girl circumcised."
Sargon of Akkad - Posts | Facebook - Ben and Jerry's UK: "Hey @PritiPatel we think the real crisis is our lack of humanity for people fleeing war, climate change and torture. We pulled together a thread for you..
People wouldn’t make dangerous journeys if they had any other choice. The UK hasn’t resettled any refugees since March, but wars and violence continue. What we need is more safe and legal routes"
"France may be full of the french but it isn't *THAT* bad."
Antisemitism: Overview of data available in the European Union 2008–2018 - "When asked to describe the perpetrator of the most serious incident of antisemiticharassment experienced in the five years before the survey –to the extent possible and based on their perceptions –respondents in 31% of the cases identified the perpetrator as someone they do not know, in 30% as someone with Muslim extremist views, and in 21% of cases as someone with left-wing political views."
Damn "far right"!
Muslim Immigrants Contribute to European Anti-Semitism - "a New York Times Magazine story titled “The New German Anti-Semitism” reported that “police statistics attribute 89 percent of all anti-Semitic crimes to right-wing extremists.” But the same article went on to question that statistic. According to the Times, when German authorities can’t directly attribute a motive for an attack on a Jewish target (and they often cannot), they ascribe it to the Right. But a European Union survey of German Jews conducted last year showed that a plurality of Jews who say they experienced anti-Semitic harassment said the perpetrators were Muslim extremists. Yet, as the Times noted, the German government has been insisting that country’s anti-Semitism problem has not been imported from the Middle East... the government seems far more focused on the threat from the right and the growth of what it describes as Islamophobia in response to the massive influx of Syrian refugees who arrived after Merkel opened up the borders to them. As in many other European countries, the recent wave of immigrants from Muslim and Arab countries has created a vast new constituency for Jew-hatred. There is a long tradition of contempt for Jews in Islamic culture that has only been exacerbated by their resentment over the creation of Israel. Muslim expressions of hatred for Israel and Jews are now indistinguishable from the anti-Semitic invective of many Europeans. This has created a bizarre alliance among Muslims, leftist academics, and other elites who aim to delegitimize Israel, Zionism, and Jews... Centrist and liberal opponents blame nationalist and populist parties in France and Germany for anti-Semitism. Ironically, Jews are far safer Eastern European countries such as Hungary and Poland — whose governments are controlled by right-wing populists — than they are in France and Germany... Both the French and German governments have said the right things about opposing anti-Semitism. But academic and other elites have helped delegitimize Israel and Jews in the name of anti-Zionism, and this has inevitably led to tolerating violence against Jews at the hands of Muslim immigrants.It will be admirable if Germans don a cutout kippah for a day or two in solidarity with their embattled Jewish neighbors. But the problem isn’t merely a matter of head coverings, and anti-hate educational programs have clearly failed. It’s impossible to separate the routine delegitimization of Israel from the way Jews are treated. What’s happening in Europe is proving again that wherever anti-Zionism is legitimized, anti-Semitism grows and anti-Jewish violence follows."
Meme" - "NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW"
"NOT EVEN ILLEGAL ALIENS?"
"RACIST!"
‘Send us home,’ beg Afghan refugees stuck in UK hotels - "Afghans who recently arrived in the UK after fleeing the Taliban takeover have asked to be sent back, casting doubt over the success of Operation Warm Welcome, the government’s Afghan resettlement programme... One doctor, who has been working with the newly arrived Afghans for weeks but who requested anonymity, said: “I’ve had a few patients telling me they want to go home. One guy, who was 67, kept saying: ‘I can’t take this any more. I have to get out of this [hotel] room.’ ” The GP, an Afghan who fled the country in 2000 when the Taliban were previously in power, added: “Another said: ‘I just want my freedom from the hotel.’ I had to put him on medication, and his wife, because they were so upset.”"
Apparently Afghanistan is not that dangerous after all
Afghan man, 29, in Berlin repeatedly stabbed woman in the neck allegedly because she worked - "A 29-year-old Afghan man in Germany repeatedly stabbed a 58-year-old landscape gardener who was working in a park in Berlin, allegedly because he didn't like the fact that as a woman she was working"
It's the fault of Islamophobia. Western women need to cover up and not work
Bilyana Martinovsky on Twitter - "Interesting situation in #Sweden : women terrorized by alien men who throw stones and call them names, but local men do not interfere. Why? They say: 'because it is mainly women who voted for politics which enable it all'."
Sweden: Researchers face prosecution for a study that showed most rapes are committed by immigrants - "Professor Kristina Sundquist, Lund University, Sweden and two of her colleagues are facing prosecution by the Board of Appeal for ethical review, a body that reports to the Swedish Ministry of Education. The reason behind the investigation initiated by the body is the research paper that was submitted by Sundquist that shows most rapes that happened in Sweden were committed by immigrants... the aim of the study was not to target any group or community but to find out common denominators like health issues, social and employment status among perpetrators... Reports suggest that the ethical authority is aiming to issue some sort of punishment to the authors of the paper. In a statement, the body said, “I don’t see anywhere that ethical permission is sought to test the hypothesis if immigrants are overrepresented in statistics on convicted rapists. The scientists were also criticized for insufficient evaluation as they failed to indicate how their research should “reduce exclusion and improve integration.” Notably, Sundquist is the most cited professor at the university regarding social research. Sadly, she would face an investigation for publishing an allegedly “unauthorized research report”... It is noteworthy that the data does not include the influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa from 2015 till date that increased exponentially due to the unrest in those regions. The study was conducted because, as per the paper’s introduction, there was an increase in the rates of sexual crimes, including rapes in the country. “Knowledge of who the offenders of these crimes are is therefore of importance for prevention,” it added... the researchers found that out of 3,039 offenders included in the study, 59.2 per cent were immigrants. Out of these, 47.7 per cent were born outside Sweden... the majority of sexual crimes go unreported... between 2008 and 2018, the cases of rape increased by 45.4 per cent. According to the data available, the number of offenders found guilty of sexual offences has been stable since 2008. However, since 2009, the rate of cases solved by the Police has gone down to 31 per cent 2009. In 2016, only 11 per cent of such cases were solved... Of the offenders who were born outside Sweden, 34.5 per cent were from the Middle East/North Africa and 19.1 per cent from Africa. Several studies had been conducted in the past they aligned with the current results. Though such studies were not common, none had been threatened with prosecution in the past. As the professors face prosecution for merely publishing the results based on the data that is available with Sweden authorities, it is unclear how hiding the information about the social and ethnic background of the offenders would improve the inclusion of the immigrants. Interestingly, one of the authors of the study is himself an immigrant."
Wrongthink is unacceptable in Sweden. Presumably this is an "abuse" of academic freedom - which can only be used for Liberal Approved Conclusions
When feminism is defeated by anti-racism
Sweden's migrant rape crisis - "On the basis of population records kept by the official agency Statistics Sweden (SCB), approximately 20% (19.7%) of the Swedish population are foreign-born individuals. Among those convicted of rape and perpetrated rape, the foreign-born account for 47.7% of those convicted — so they are over-represented by a factor of 2.4. Moreover, if we piece various statistics together, we find there are 565,902 foreign-born people living in Sweden who were born in North Africa and the Middle East, representing 4.9% of Sweden’s population. Yet 16.4% of those convicted of rape and attempted rape are foreign-born individuals from North Africa and the Middle East: over-representation by a factor of 3.3. And that figure rises to 4.7 when you consider all foreign-born citizens from Africa (excluding North Africa.) Such statistics must, of course, be handled with care. There are, after all, several risks that need to be weighed up when it comes to such a sensitive and politically fraught subject. The first, and perhaps most obvious, lies in condemning entire groups, with whole categories of persons deemed “guilty” based on the criminal behaviour of a few. I think that is a mistake, ethically and analytically, not least because the overwhelming majority of foreign-born men living in Sweden are not guilty of crimes. It goes without saying that the group as a whole cannot be condemned for the actions of a very small percentage. The second risk, however, is to take the complete opposite approach; to dismiss the link from migration to sexual violence through excessive relativisation. In Germany, for example, an official report warned that since not all criminal suspects are identified, comparisons between population groups are not possible... such an approach is not only naïve; it also ignores the existence of a wider trend. The Swedish authors themselves state that their conclusions “are in line with previous Swedish studies… [and] are also in line with international studies from, among others, Switzerland, as well as Sweden’s neighbouring countries Norway, Finland and Denmark.”... Whatever truth, one thing we do know is that European statistics on the characteristics of sexual offenders currently form a complex, disparate set of data; they are often difficult to locate, sometimes shrouded in secrecy. Data on perpetrators are especially few and far between. And that can be dangerous. For where information is inaccessible or obscure, the most outlandish theories can flourish in the darker corners of the internet, where the constraints of responsible editing, much less peer review, are non-existent. The authors of this Swedish study have therefore performed a valuable service in shining a light on an excruciatingly painful topic. We can only hope that it serves as a model to researchers in other European countries, so that more effective measures can be developed to safeguard the rights of all women, foreign-born and native alike. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” is not a legitimate policy response to a wave of criminality that has ruined or marred the lives of tens of thousands of people."
Feminists love to condemn men based on the criminal behavior of a few. Too bad they are not logically consistent, since they have motivated reasoning
Swedish rape offenders — a latent class analysis
5 injured in stabbing attack in Italy; suspect arrested, terror motive ruled out - "Italian police on Sunday were investigating a Somali asylum-seeker for attempted murder after he allegedly slashed two ticket controllers aboard a bus in the beach resort town of Rimini, then wounded three other people, including a boy, as he fled. Investigators are ruling out terrorism as a motive and hypothesize that the 26-year-old man was under the influence of drugs during the knife attack Saturday night"
How come it's only migrants who have so much mental illness? Presumably that shows the effects of "structural racism"
Of course it being the anniversary of 911 had nothing to do with the "drugs"
Sweden’s new epidemic: clan-based crime | The Spectator - "‘We have an obvious problem,’ admitted the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven recently. He was referring not to the Covid pandemic, but to a summer of crime that has left even jaded Swedes reeling in disbelief. There are regular bombings, hand grenade attacks and shootings. Young men are killing each other at a horrific rate — ten times that of Germany. The feeling is growing that the government has completely lost control. Yet, while Löfven has finally acknowledged the existence of the problem, he still seems in denial about its true nature. Last month in Botkyrka, south of Stockholm, a 12-year-old girl walking her dog was killed by a stray bullet from a gang shooting — and in a TV interview her friends explained that shootings are simply part of daily life in their neighbourhood. One child said that she hears gunfire from her bedroom window almost every night. And this is perhaps what’s most shocking for older Swedes: how resigned the children in these areas are; how much they’ve grown used to the violence. It is all too much for Mats Löfving, the deputy national police chief, who earlier this month decided to speak plainly about the nature of the criminals he and his colleagues are fighting. There are at least 40 family-based criminal networks — or clans — in Sweden, he confirmed: immigrants who came to the country ‘solely for the purpose of organising and systematising crime’. According to Löfving, they make their money through drug-trafficking and extortion and ‘have a great capacity for violence’. The interview was a bombshell. The Prime Minister has always tried to talk about crime as a socioeconomic problem — and he stuck to this line in response to Löfving, saying that ‘I do not want to link crime to ethnicity’. — a government mantra which insinuates that even asking questions about the link between crime and immigration is xenophobic. But the issue, of course, is not skin colour. It’s about the problem of an imported type of crime: families from non-Swedishcultures who stay in their own circles and prey on Swedes of all ethnicities. These are people who have set up parallel systems of government that challenge the Swedish state — something that politicians cannot bring themselves to acknowledge. Conflicts between rival criminals last month escalated to a point where gangs took an unparalleled move to establish their dominance. Masked and armed men set up roadblocks, and controlled cars entering certain neighbourhoods in Gothenburg. Streets were deserted as the gangs ordered residents to stay inside. The headmaster of a local school put it bluntly: ‘Checkpoints controlled by criminal militia are something I last saw in Afghanistan. I never thought it would become a reality in Sweden.’ Meanwhile, home visits from doctors have been suspended in the area for safety reasons; and staff from care services for the elderly and disabled are being escorted on their rounds by security guards. The government’s solution to problems like these has long been to deny that they are there. When people began to talk about ‘no-go zones’ a few years ago, the phrase caused so much anxiety in official circles that the crime spots were dubbed ‘go-go zones’ in a PR initiative. For years, the government’s position, as well as the narrative reiterated by large parts of the media, has been that the notion of rising crime is some kind of fake news. Based on this idea, the state has set up a PR budget and employed staff to write ‘fact-checking’ posts to deny international reporting about what’s going on. One of the ‘myths’ busted is that shootings have increased. Only weeks ago, Löfven famously claimed that even if there were a crime problem, it was nothing to do with immigration. Annie Lööf, leader of Sweden’s Centre party, says that ‘many of these gangs and their families have been in Sweden for decades’ — as if this would contradict the notion that immigration and failed integration is a root cause of the problem. Löfven has even pointed to upper-class youths in a small suburb of Stockholm as an explanation for gang murders, maintaining that rich kids’ consumption of recreational drugs is creating a demand that leads to shootings in poorer areas. Can he really think that drug abuse among a small fraction of the country’s youth explains why there are ten times more gang murders in Sweden than in neighbouring countries?"
Migrants accused of live streaming rape of girl WON'T be deported - "The two foreign men, aged 21 and 18, are accused of sexually assaulting the girl and broadcasting it on social media in Sweden."
Germany could deport antisemitic migrants under new laws
Thousands of 'middle-class' migrants using stolen yachts to sneak into Europe - "Many of the smugglers are Ukrainian but there is a smattering of Uzbeks and other nationalities. Some of the smugglers abandon the yachts before they get close to land, escaping by jet-ski to backup vessels. But large numbers are caught, prosecuted and jailed... Their journeys are well planned – many of them turn up with fake Green Passes, the digital vaccination certificate that is required in Italy to board a train or bus and access a range of day-to-day necessities... The increase in arrivals can be partly explained, in part, by the economic impact of the pandemic."
The New York Times on Twitter - "The lives of Black farmworkers in Mississippi are being upended as they lose their jobs to white South Africans being brought in on guest visas. "It’s like being robbed of your heritage," said one worker who comes from generations of Mississippi farmers."
Black Farmworkers Say They Lost Jobs to Foreigners Who Were Paid More - The New York Times - "In the Mississippi Delta, a region of high unemployment and entrenched poverty, the labor mobility that is widening the pool of fieldworkers is having a devastating effect on local workers who are often ill-equipped to compete with the new hires, frequently younger and willing to work longer hours... When he first heard that Africans were coming to work on the farm, about eight years ago, “I didn’t question it. I just went along doing my job,” he said. But when four white men showed up, they were not the Africans he had expected""
I thought only racist losers were against hardworking migrants from Africa
Poll: Vast majority of French against accepting more migrants, believe migrants make France less safe - "The vast majority of French are becoming increasingly hostile to accepting more migrants and believe they make the country less secure, according to a new exclusive survey carried out by the Ifop agency. According to the survey, almost three-quarters of respondents believe that immigration costs France more than it earns from it, while seven out of 10 further claim that the country no longer has the means to welcome immigrants. The impact of immigrants on the public sphere is perceived as negative by 64 percent of respondents. A clear majority of French people, representing 60 percent, believe that welcoming foreigners is no longer possible because of differences in values and problems of cohabitation. An almost identical share believes that massive immigration plays a negative role in defining French identity and the cohesion of society. These identity fears go hand in hand with negative assumptions about the impact of immigration on secularism, as 61 percent of people see adverse effects of immigration on respect for this principle. A large majority of French also believe there is a link between insecurity and immigration. Two-thirds of French people consider that immigration has a negative effect in terms of overall security and crime, and 53 percent of the French believes it maximizes the risk of terrorism... Previous surveys show that the French are becoming increasingly negative towards migration compared to previous years. “In 2018, 64 percent of people thought that our country already has too many foreigners and welcoming more immigrants is not desirable and 60 percent that we cannot welcome more migrants because our values are too different and this brings problems in coexistence,” commented senior opinion analyst from Ifop, Paul Cébille, on Twitter. According to almost half of the respondents (49 percent), immigration leads to a lesser degree of gender equality or respect for minorities, for example, homosexuals, and Jews."
Somali Migrant Torched Churches as Revenge for a Qur'an Being Burned - "A Somali migrant has admitted to setting two Norwegian churches on fire earlier this year, claiming that he committed the arson attacks as revenge for a burning of a copy of the Qur’an"
Nantes cathedral fire: Questioned volunteer released without charge - "A volunteer detained for questioning over a fire at the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral in Nantes has been released without charge. The blaze tore through the cathedral early on Saturday morning, destroying stained glass windows and the grand organ inside. The detained Rwandan refugee, 39, was in charge of locking up the building the day before the fire. The Nantes public prosecutor said the man was freed on Sunday evening. Pierres Sennès said the authorities had wanted to clear up any inconsistencies and that the questioning was a "normal procedure". The volunteer has not been named... Jean-Charles Nowak, a clerk at the cathedral, told French newspaper Le Figaro the volunteer was "a man of duty" who had "suffered a lot in Rwanda" - a country he left several years ago. The refugee had been discussing extending his visa with local officials, he said. "I don't believe for a second that he could have set the cathedral on fire. It's a place he adores," Mr Nowak said."
I remember when leftists were crowing that he was not responsible
For French Catholics, arson at Nantes cathedral shows their religion is under attack - "In 2019 there were 1,052 anti-Christian hate crimes in France, which is almost twice the amount of cases of anti-Semitism and 10 times the number of anti-Muslim acts... Some tweets suggested that the blaze was a part of a conspiracy. Others were happy to see the cathedral in flames. “Some people hate the church and Catholics,” said French Catholic Arnaud Boutheon, co-founder of a yearly national event dedicated to evangelization, Congres Mission, in phone interviews... The Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Francis, has adopted a strong pro-immigration stance that has garnered both praise and scorn. The Diocese of Nantes confirmed to RNS on Tuesday that it had helped the suspect apply for refugee status when he moved to France between three and four years ago and also helped him find a living accommodation in a home run by the Catholic community. The diocese also stated that Emmanuel was a Catholic and a regular Mass-goer who was well accepted by the community."
Maybe liberals will still claim he set fire to the church because the church had oppressed him
Priest’s murder prompts political debate - "The murder of Fr Olivier Maire, beaten to death by a Rwandan refugee he had housed in his abbey, prompted praise for his courage and faith and criticism from politicians trying to score points in the run-up to presidential elections next year. Fr Maire, French provincial for the Montfortian Missionaries (Company of Mary) order, was killed by Emmanuel Abayisenga, a troubled illegal immigrant arrested after setting fire to Nantes cathedral last year. He had been living in the abbey since being released in May pending trial... Although not as badly damaged as Notre Dame in Paris, the Nantes cathedral will be closed for repairs until late 2023... “In France, one can be clandestine, set fire to the Nantes cathedral, never be expelled and reoffend by murdering a priest,” said Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally party. "It is the complete bankruptcy of the state and of (Interior Minister) Gerald Darmanin.”... The Paris daily Le Monde denounced this blame game, saying the problem was “in the psychiatric follow-up of a clearly seriously unbalanced person”."
I thought it was only mental illness when it was a white person
Catholic philosopher: Murdered French priest knew the risks he was taking - "When asked whether Fr. Maire was “blinded by his goodness” and missed the warning signs that should have convinced him not to take the man in, Brague said: “Goodness never blinds people. On the contrary, it opens their eyes. ‘Love is blind’ is universal folk wisdom, but when you get down to it, it’s not very wise. The proverb is true only if by ‘love’ you mean an all-consuming passion that ultimately loves its object only for the pleasure it draws from it, and therefore doesn’t really love anything but itself. “True love enlarges and deepens our understanding. From the beginning, faith has helped Christians to see as full human beings those whom others were able to see, at best, as partly human: slaves, women, the unborn, the dying pagans … “Good people want what is best, for themselves as well as for others, and are sometimes even capable of putting the good of others before their own. Goodness means learning to recognize a capacity for doing good even among people who seem incapable of it. It means giving a chance to someone who might not deserve it. That means taking risks, sometimes big risks. Everything we know leads us to believe that Father Maire knew this. He was a member of a missionary congregation, that is, used to living in inhospitable regions — sometimes even hostile ones. He was animated by the conviction that all human beings are worthy of the message of truth that he was carrying.” Fr. Maire lost his life living out his faith, but, Brague, cautions, this does not mean it is right for one person to urge others to risk their lives. “‘Turn the other cheek’ is wonderful as long as it means my own cheek. But urging my neighbor to do it, while I am at no risk myself, is ignoble,” he said. Therefore, it is “one of the essential missions of the state,” he said to protect its citizens from violence. “Should it fail to protect its citizens, its legitimacy is gone,” said Brague."
Priest Killing Cathedral Arsonist Migrant Met Pope in 2016: Report - "Pope Francis has taken a pro-migration position during his tenure as the Bishop of Rome, launching a two-year campaign to lecture people on the hardships faced by migrants in order to advance a “shift in thinking” on the issue worldwide. Last week the pope said in an address in Saint Peter’s Square: “Let us open our heart to refugees; let us make their sorrows and their joys our own; let us learn courageous resilience from them!” “And in this way, all together, we will make a more human community grow, one big family,” the pontiff added."
Napier Barracks: Five arrests over asylum centre fire - "After the fire, the Home Office said people had "set about destroying the barracks", with one building set on fire and windows smashed. Ms Patel described the destruction as "deeply offensive to the taxpayers of this country"."
So much for all the leftists blaming the "far right"
Manchester Arena bomber's brother 'flees UK' after being summoned to give evidence at inquiry - "The elder brother of Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi has left the UK ahead of an appearance at a public inquiry into the terror attack. The bomber's childhood friend was arrested on Monday trying to leave the country, the inquiry has heard. Both Ismail Abedi and Ahmed Taghdi had been given court orders warning them to attend the inquiry this week to answer questions about the radicalisation of the bomber who carried out the May 22, 2017 attack."
The left will still dismiss him as a lone wolf who isn't an indicator that there's anything wrong
‘It’s genuine’: Lineker ‘waiting on paperwork’ to welcome 2nd refugee into $5.4MN mansion as he rejects claims of virtue signaling - "England and Barcelona football legend Gary Lineker has continued to put his money where his mouth is by preparing to welcome a second refugee into his $5.4 million mansion, according to British media reports. A staunch defender of refugee and immigrant rights, Match of the Day host Lineker is regularly hit with comments along the lines of "why don't you take them in then?" on Twitter. He started campaigning for refugees after the 2015 loss of Syrian youngster Alan Kurdi, who drowned off the Greek coast of Greece. In 2020, Lineker welcomed a Pakistani student to his home. And he emphasized that would not be a one-off, revealing to The Mirror at the time that he had no qualms about opening his door to strangers from war-torn terrains... This time talking to The Sun, Lineker detailed how he had already filled in the necessary forms to accept another lodger from the Pakistani province of Balochistan."
Hotel rooms for asylum seekers costs taxpayer almost £5m per day | News | The Times - "Home Office officials have admitted that the total cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels is almost £5 million per day — four times as much as they told MPs."
Asylum seekers could face X-ray bone checks to prove their real age - "Migrants could face X-rays of their bones to prove their age under new powers to stop adults claiming to be children to boost their chances of asylum. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is to unveil a series of amendments to her Nationality and Borders Bill that include sanctioning “scientifically verifiable” methods to check the age of migrants. It is expected to include X-rays of forearm bones, which are said to be the most accurate method to estimate the maturity of a child’s skeletal system by comparing the images with a database of children of the same gender and age. The move would bring Britain into line with other EU countries and the US which use similar methods, including dental X-rays, to check migrants’ ages. They are expected to be used only on those suspected of lying about their age to enter Britain. A specialist unit is to be set up by the Government as part of the new Bill to carry out the expert assessments of would-be asylum seekers who claim to be under 18. Previous proposals to use dental X-rays to verify the age of migrants have provoked criticism from doctors who say they are inaccurate and that it is unethical to take radiographs of people without a health benefit. Where an asylum seeker's claim to be a child under 18 was doubted by the Home Office, 52.5 per cent over the past five years were found to be over 18. Of the 701 age disputes resolved in 2020, 364 (52 per cent) were found to be over 18... One of the most infamous cases of a migrant lying about their age to enter Britain was the Parsons Green bomber. Ahmed Hassan pretended to be 16 and posed as a “model asylum seeker” before setting off a “Mother of Satan” bomb on a London Tube train in September 2017, injuring 69 victims. His real age remains unknown. But the judge who jailed the Iraqi for 34 years in 2018 said he was satisfied he was over 18, but probably no older than 21. The Old Bailey was told he “cynically exploited to the full the generosity and naivety of the system”. Other examples of apparent deception include a balding male who appeared to be in his 40s and was being taught in a Coventry school. The unnamed asylum seeker, believed to be from The Gambia, was moved to solo lessons last December after parents complained... There has been a five-fold increase in the number of unaccompanied children entering Europe, according to Eurostat. Unlike adults, they are taken into council care on arrival in the UK and most often placed with foster families if under 16."
