THE HOME Office is locking up trafficked African children in adult prisons alongside sex offenders, an inspection has found.
14 unaccompanied asylum seeker children, mainly from Sudan or South Sudan, have been jailed in HMP Elmley, Kent, in the same wing as sex offenders.
The vulnerable children were discovered by the Humans For Rights Network in a visit to the prison on the Isle of Sheppey by the mouth of the Thames.
The group says more than 1,000 “age disputed children” have been sent to adult jails while the Home Office assesses their claims.
Black child refugees have been subjected to “adultification” when suspected of being over 18, due to their build and height.
It is believed some children are being sent to adult prisons after appearing at Folkestone magistrates court charged with being an illegal immigrant under the new Nationality and Borders Act.
Refugee groups say no human is illegal, and the absence of safe and legal routes means the government has criminalised people for seeking asylum, in contravention of international law.
Refugee campaigner Zoe Gardner said the Sudanese children had been imprisoned because “they are Black. They are foreign. They would never be given a visa to travel to safety any other way than the Channel.”
Maddie Harris of the Humans for Rights Network told The Independent. “Young people who have been released say they are terrified to go back there. They can be destroyed psychologically.”
There are 70 sexual offenders at HMP Elmley and a survey of prisoners found that one in four felt unsafe there.
A government spokesperson said: “Assessing age is a challenging but vital process to identify genuine children and stop abuse of the system. We must prevent adults claiming to be children, or children being wrongly treated as adults – both present serious safeguarding risks.”
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