Afghan migrant assessed by Hampshire County Council as an adult was a child
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He was originally deemed to be an adult due to his appearance
An Afghan migrant who was deemed to be an adult after being assessed by Hampshire County Council was actually a child, the asylum court has ruled.
British authorities refused to believe the asylum seeker was under 18 when he arrived in the UK because of his claim that he was fixing cars at age 10 in his village in Afghanistan, it was heard. But now, a British immigration judge has ruled that authorities were wrong to declare him as being an adult and accuse him of lying about his age.
An immigration judge said he was not lying about his age because it is 'commonplace' for boys from 'war torn countries' to learn trades at young ages. The migrant, who has been granted anonymity, won his Judicial Review at the Upper Tribunal and will be awarded a fee to cover his publicly-funded legal fees. The migrant, named only as MA, is currently 18.
The Upper Tribunal was told he grew up in a village in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, and that his father was killed by the Taliban in 2021. MA said he fled his home country at age 13 as the Taliban were attempting to recruit him and travelled to a number of countries including Turkey. He arrived in the UK in August 2023 when he was 15 years old.
The Home Office and Hampshire County Council conducted age assessments when he was aged 17, with both authorities finding he was 23. Hampshire County Council said in its report that he “looked much older than the 17 he is claiming is his age”.
MA explained in the interview with the council that he had worked as a mechanic in Afghanistan since he was 10. He said he would “unfix the tyre”, “open the bonnet” and “unfix the water radiator” to assist the village mechanic when he got out of school and at the weekends.
He said: "It was in the village, I was just observing your teacher, I would help out by giving him different tools and being a general helper. I was about 10 years old when I first started working in the garage. Used to only have small cars so not very busy.
"I would be given a little bit of pocket money a week to buy an ice-cream or similar. Not much at all. I didn't work Fridays but I would attend school and then work with him afterwards. [I worked] until I left Afghanistan which would be approximately two years.”
MA also admitted during the age assessment that he was “thinking of getting a tattoo”. He provided different dates for his birthday, but they were each in 2007.
The Council ultimately said: "We have concluded this assessment and agree with Home Office, and your initial Age Assessment, that you are in fact an adult. We agree with the Date of Birth given by the Home Office."
MA appealed and his case was heard at the Upper Tribunal. When his job as a mechanic was described at the tribunal, court heard “he worked from 9am to 1pm and he then went to school.
"If there was no school on that day then he said he would stay at the mechanics for the whole day. He said he was an assistant to the master mechanic.” MA said he asked Hampshire County Council to permit him to work doing car mechanic work a number of times.
Court heard “it was put to [MA] that a 15 or 16 year old would be doing the type or work that he was describing, but [MA] asked what proof there was of that and that, in effect, it was commonplace for boys of his age to be doing this sort of assistant work with a mechanic to learn the skills. [MA] said he did get paid for the work but that it was 'quite little'."
Hearing the evidence, Upper Tribunal Judge Abid Mahmood was content that MA was in fact a child when he arrived in the UK. The judge said: "Whilst [MA] was cross examined at some length about his work at the mechanics, considering what he actually explained was that he worked there in the mornings before going to school in the afternoon.
“He assisted with passing things and working on tyres. Whilst [MA] was young and doing work which we would only expect of a 15 or 16 year old in this country, again work in war torn countries by boys when learning the job as a mechanic or farmer or the like is not uncommon.
"I am also troubled by the reasoning of the age assessors whereby despite knowing that physical appearance is an unreliable indicator of age, they nonetheless relied heavily on physical appearance anyway. In my judgment these errors in the age assessment were of such a fundamental nature that it affects the veracity of the age assessment as a whole. I have derived no real benefit from the age assessment in terms of assessing [MA's] age.
"Therefore, considering the extensive evidence as a whole, I conclude that [MA's] age is as he claims it to be. Therefore, at the time of the assessment of his age by the [Council], [MA] was under the age of 18."
The migrant won his Judicial Review and is line to receive costs to cover his publicly-funded legal fees. His official status was not revealed. It was not said that the Home Office has any plans to deport him.