An immigration tribunal has ruled that a Sudanese asylum seeker with hairy legs and arms and a deep voice is a child, overturning assessments by the Home Office and a council that he was in his mid-20s.
The court backed his claim that he was 16 years old, dismissing the Home Office's assertion that his physical appearance "very strongly suggested" he was "significantly over 18" and likely around 24.
The asylum seeker arrived in the UK in December 2023, telling officials he was 16.
He said he fled Sudan because of the ongoing war and fears he would be kidnapped by a paramilitary force that had already taken three of his friends.
The tribunal found the asylum seeker was 'consistent' throughout proceedings that his date of birth was September 20, 2007
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The upper tier of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber heard that the asylum seeker had "very hairy legs" and "very mature hands, with thick hair on his arms".
He was said to have a "deep voice", a "very mature face and beard", a "receding hairline", a "pronounced Adam's apple", and "significant and deep lines on forehead that remain even when he is not making facial movements".
However, Upper Tribunal Judge Gemma Loughran dismissed these physical characteristics as "not a useful indicator of age".
She said: "We are not persuaded thick hair on a person's arms and legs is a useful indicator of age."
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The asylum seeker arrived in the UK in December 2023, telling officials he was 16
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The judge noted that photographs showed the asylum seeker "did not have a beard or indeed any visible facial hair at all" and that forehead lines were neither "significant" nor "particularly deep".
Qualified social workers conducted a later assessment of the asylum seeker's age in June last year and found he was the age he claimed to be.
The social workers said: "Based on the information available, we believe that the overwhelming evidence supports [the asylum seeker's] claimed age."
They dismissed previous professional judgements as "unreliable due to its content or lack of transparency concerning the processes undertaken when gathering this information".
He said he fled Sudan because of the ongoing war and fears he would be kidnapped by a paramilitary force that had already taken three of his friends
Getty
The tribunal found the asylum seeker was "consistent" throughout proceedings that his date of birth was September 20, 2007.
The council's decision that he was significantly over 16 years old has been quashed.
The local authority must now treat him in accordance with his claimed age and pay the costs of the judicial review claim.
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