UK Drops DNA Tests For Refugees And Asylum Seekers

Britain has dropped a policy of using DNA tests to identify the nationality of African refugees and asylum seekers after criticism that there is no scientific merit to the practice.

The government "does not plan to take forward DNA or isotope testing for country of origin identification purposes," and has also suspended an internal review of the program, according to a statement issued Friday by the U.K. Border Agency. It did not explain why it was discontinuing the program.

The pilot project first began in 2009 and was heavily slammed by experts, who said it was not possible to pinpoint a person's nationality based on their genes. British authorities described the testing as voluntary, and some applicants were asked to provide a mouth swab or hair or nail sample in cases where there were questions about their nationality.

The government said such tests provided valuable evidence in assessing whether asylum seekers are telling the truth about their country of origin. The tests were used only on people who claimed to be from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan.

Refugees...