An Afghan illegal migrant has secured permission to remain in Britain despite answering "I don't know" 158 times when asked about his age.
The migrant, who has been granted anonymity, informed Border Force officers upon arrival that he was born in 2007, which would have made him 15 years old at the time.
An Upper Tribunal judge has now accepted his claimed birth year as accurate, ruling in his favour despite significant inconsistencies in his testimony during age assessment interviews.
The Afghan national suffered from epilepsy and experienced frequent major seizures throughout his journey to Britain, which the court determined had impacted his ability to recall events and provide consistent information.
The migrant informed Border Force officers upon arrival that he was born in 2007
|GETTY
During age assessment interviews, the asylum seeker responded with "I don't know" on 158 occasions and said "I can't remember" at least 49 times when questioned about his background and age.
The Home Office initially determined his date of birth to be 31 January 2005, which would make him two years older than he claimed.
Following his arrival, officials conducted a screening interview and housed him in accommodation designated for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
However, in January 2023, he was transferred to an adult hotel.
The Home Office initially determined his date of birth to be 31 January 2005
| GETTYThe National Age Assessment Board concluded in May 2024 that he was born in 2005, making him 19 years old at that point.
Assessors believed his repeated inability to recall information suggested he was deliberately concealing details rather than genuinely struggling with memory.
Officials raised further doubts about his account because he had initially provided 5 January 2005 as his date of birth at the Kent Intake Unit, with all subsequent changes to his story reducing his stated age.
The tribunal judgement noted that assessors found he "was not able to give a credible reason" for why the information he originally supplied in Kent was incorrect.
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Additionally, he did not challenge his recorded age until approximately three months after entering the country, when he was moved into adult accommodation.
His living situation deteriorated nine months after the transfer to adult housing, leaving him without a home.
A charity subsequently referred him to the London Borough of Croydon, where he was eventually placed with a foster family.
Upper Tribunal Judge Leonie Hirst acknowledged that the most apparent contradiction in his evidence was claiming not to know his birth date while simultaneously providing a specific date upon arrival in Britain.
A charity subsequently referred him to the London Borough of Croydon, where he was eventually placed with a foster family.
|GETTY
The judge accepted his explanation that fellow migrants travelling with him had advised he needed to supply a date of birth to apply for asylum.
Judge Hirst said: "He has given a relatively consistent account of his background in Afghanistan and I note that the assessors accepted that his lack of knowledge of birth dates was consistent with anecdotal evidence about Afghan cultural norms.
"I find it credible that he does not know his exact date of birth and did not know his age when he left Afghanistan."
The court also accepted testimony that his uncle told him he was 16 when he was moved to adult accommodation in early 2023, and that his mother confirmed in early 2024 he was about to turn 17.
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