PA:Press Association Many children could be at risk, official claims
Children have been able to use e-gates – automated self-service passport barriers – at big airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick for much of the past year. And the Home Office is looking to roll it out smaller sea ports.
But Mr Bolt told MPs: “The issue is whether the e-gates are dealing sufficiently with those more vulnerable arrivals, particularly the safeguarding aspects around children and maybe victims of modern slavery, who might be going through those gates.
“And it’s whether the level of coverage of those gates is sufficient to give assurance that those risks are being managed.”
The warning comes three months after Lucy Moreton, head of the Border Force union, warned that stopping physical checks for teenagers meant trafficking victims could be missed.
