UK MP triggers row suggesting dental checks to determine age of migrants

A number of unaccompanied children from the "Jungle" camp have arrived to join relatives in the United Kingdom - amid suggestions they could be adults trying to get in.

In the year ending September 2015, 590 asylum applicants had their age disputed and of those, 574 recorded as having an age assessment.

Wednesday's front page of popular-tabloid The Sun led with a picture of one such refugee with the headline Migrant "children" look 40.

Charity groups warned that numerous migrants do not want to stay in France and may set up camp elsewhere to continue trying to cross the English Channel to Britain.

Britain's Home Office said French officials refer eligible refugees to the United Kingdom authorities and they are interviewed by authorities from both countries.

About 70 minors have legally crossed the English Channel since the start of the year and French authorities say they have received guarantees from their British counterparts that the influx of teenagers will be increased sharply.

Well-known British sports broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker was also among those who responded to Davies' comments.

But the BDA, which represents dentists and dental students in the United Kingdom, disputed claims that dental radiographs can accurately determine whether someone is under the age of 18 or not.

Groups on the ground in the "Jungle" have accused the Home Office of failing to do enough to register the several hundred children who are believed to be living unaccompanied in the camp.

A Home Office spokesman said the screening process verifies a person's age based on their "physical appearance" and "demeanor".

Under EU asylum law, child refugees are allowed into the United Kingdom if they have family already living here.

One source with knowledge of the situation said photographs were misleading and they have "never doubted" any of the migrants' ages.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said demands by David Davies for testing on those heading to Britain from the Jungle refugee camp was "inappropriate and unethical".

According to the British Home Office reports, two-thirds of child refugees screened by British officials are found to be adults, the Telegraph stated.

In response, 11 French organizations went to a court in the French city of Lille in a bid to suspend the camp's dismantlement, but the court Tuesday morning rejected that appeal, saying that the camp's dismantling "does not disregard the principle of prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment".

"These vulnerable children, aged between 14 and 17, were transferred to the United Kingdom under the care of Home Office staff, with the support of volunteers from specialist NGOs and charities".

The Government has emailed charities asking for "urgent help" after admitting it doesn't have sufficient staff in place to care for newly-arrived child refugees.

France will start removing migrants on Monday from a squalid north-coast camp known as the Jungle and expects to dismantle it in the space of a week, an interior ministry official said on Friday.