A Sudanese teenager who sought asylum in the UK as an unaccompanied child has won a legal battle after a council unlawfully assessed him as an adult. The boy, now 17, arrived from Sudan aged 15 but was judged by Wirral Council to be 20.
The teenager, identified as AM in court documents, fled his village in western Darfur aged 11 after attacks by the Janjaweed militia. He travelled to Libya, where he was forced into slavery, before crossing the Mediterranean to Italy and eventually reaching the UK in February 2019.
Initially treated as an adult by the Home Office, AM was placed in adult accommodation for three months. Wirral Council later assessed him as over 18 and likely 20. However, Upper Tribunal Judge O'Callaghan ruled the assessment was 'fundamentally unfair' and conducted unlawfully, citing procedural failures and over-reliance on physical appearance.
The judgment stated that on balance, AM is under 18 and truthful about his birth date. This ensures he will be treated as a child in his asylum claim, entitling him to care and education until 18.
Edward Taylor, AM's solicitor, urged councils to review their age assessment practices, noting the traumatic process for vulnerable young asylum seekers. Wirral Council acknowledged the complexity of age assessments and said it would review its processes.
