Migrant wins £40k case after authorities misjudged his age due to 'mature skin'

A migrant from Sudan has won a £40,000 case after a British councillor claimed he was 30 when he was just 17. Luton Borough Council has been ordered to pay tens of thousands of pounds in legal fees for the Sudanese migrant and must continue to support him. Age assessment workers from the local authority did not believe his age to be 17 when he arrived in Britain due to some of his physical features, including his "mature skin" and "set lines" in his forehead.

One staff member judged him to be between 25 and 30 and he was moved into adult accommodation. However, an immigration court has ruled that the Sudanese national was 17 at the time of entering the UK. The migrant said he was born in February 2007 when he entered Britain in February 2024. He claimed his education was disrupted due to poverty and conflict in the war-torn region of West Darfur.

He said he was tortured for 20 days while travelling through Africa after his mother arranged for him to flee the region.

After Luton council claimed he was not 17, he challenged their decision, as a medical assessment found him to be the average height and weight of a person whose age he claimed to be.

A Sudanese expert analysed the migrant's documents during a hearing in the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, and said while there is a market for fake ID documents, he did not believe his were not real.

The Sudanese national underwent an assessment of physical appearance, where it was unclear if he had started shaving, and was considered to have "mature skin with dark patches around his mouth and chin and faint but set lines across his forehead".

Luton council has now been ordered to pay the migrant's legal costs of £40,000 within 21 days.

The judge said: "If [the migrant's] account of his experiences and age are both correct, then he has suffered significant trauma and hardship for a 16-year-old.

"His age and understanding will also mean that he cannot be expected to give the same level of detail and consistency as an adult.

"Whatever his true age, and even if his experiences have been exaggerated, the hardships inherent in any young person's flight and journey from Sudan to Europe will have likely had a very significant effect on both his recollection and his behaviour when dealing with authority figures.

"If you met [the migrant] and were told he was between 18 and 22, you wouldn't think twice. But if you were told he was 26, you'd probably do a double take. If you were told he was 31, you would be very surprised indeed.

"I accept [the migrant]'s claimed date of birth of 3 February 2007, and find that on the date of the age assessment he was 17. While very little significance can be placed on his appearance and demeanour, it is not inconsistent with that conclusion."