Legal Update: Asylum seeker age assessments

A number of recent court cases have highlighted the risks that face young asylum seekers who, after arriving in the UK, are unable to show how old they are, because, for example, they lack the requisite identification documents. Judgments on age might be made by Home Office officials or social workers, but if appropriate detailed assessments are not carried out, children can find themselves housed with adults or even placed in immigration detention.

One case (S, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Croydon) involved a young Iraqi who arrived, unaccompanied, in the UK in September 2016 and claimed asylum. He stated that he was 15 years old, but the Home Office took the view that his physical appearance and demeanour "very strongly suggested that he was significantly over 18 years of age". The Home Office then accommodated him in Brigstock House, a hostel in Croydon for adult asylum seekers. With the help of the Refugee Council, the young person requested alternative accommodation and support from Croydon children's services, which eventually accepted that it had a duty to carry out an assessment but did not take the young person into its care pending that assessment being carried out. The young person complained of being punched by another resident at Brigstock house, and was sharing a room with adults who could be angry and aggressive towards him, leaving him feeling scared and intimidated.