Afghan migrant who mentioned ‘I do not know’ 158 instances when quizzed about his background is allowed to remain in Britain

A small boat Afghan migrant has won the right to stay in Britain despite answering ‘I don’t know’ 158 times when he was quizzed about his age.

The asylum seeker arrived in Britain in 2022 where he told Border Force officials he was born in 2007, making him aged 15.

But the Home Office assessed him as being born on January 31, 2005. When he was quizzed during an age screening interview, he said ‘I don’t know’ 158 times and the words ‘I can’t remember’ at least 49 times.  

He has been granted leave to remain in the UK as a refugee until 2029 after a Upper Tribunal judge ruled he had been telling the truth.

It was heard that the migrant, who was given anonymity, suffered from epilepsy and had frequent and major seizures during his journey to Britain.

After arriving, he underwent a screening interview and was placed in a hotel for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children – before moving to an adult hotel in January 2023.

Nine months later, his arrangement broke down and he was left homeless. He was referred to the London Borough of Croydon by a charity and was later placed in foster care.

In January 2024 he was acknowledged as a refugee and granted leave to remain until January 2029.

A small boat Afghan migrant has won the right to stay in Britain despite answering ‘I don’t know’ 158 times when he was quizzed about his age (Stock Image)

In May 2024, the National Age Assessment Board judged him to be born in 2005 and therefore 19 years old.

A tribunal judgement said: ‘The assessors concluded that [Afghan] was an adult primarily because… His lack of memory during the age assessment interviews led the assessors to conclude that he was deliberately withholding information.

‘In particular, they recorded that he had answered “I don’t know” at least 158 times and “I can’t remember” no less than 49 times during the age assessment interviews.’

Age assessors were also sceptical because the Afghan had ‘given his date of birth as 5 January 2005 in his initial assessment at the Kent Intake Unit and all subsequent alterations in his narrative had reduced his age’.

He was ‘not able to give a credible reason’ why the information he provided in Kent was incorrect and the assessors said he ‘subsequently corroborated’ it.

Assessors also said he ‘had not raised any objections to his recorded age until he was placed in adult accommodation, approximately three months after he entered the UK’.

After appealing the decision, the case was taken to the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

During the court proceedings, the migrant used an Afghan Dari interpreter.

It was judged that his epilepsy had affected his memory and his ability to recount previous events.

It was concluded that his claimed age is correct and that he was born in 2007.

Upper Tribunal Judge Leonie Hirst said: ‘The most obvious inconsistency in [the Afghan’s] evidence is that although he claimed not to know his date of birth, he was recorded as providing a specific date of birth on arrival to the UK.

‘His explanation in his witness statements was that he was advised by other migrants with whom he was travelling that he had to give a date of birth in order to apply for asylum.

‘On balance, and considering the evidence as a whole, I accept his written evidence.

‘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.

‘I accept his evidence that when he was moved to adult accommodation in early 2023 and realised that his age was significant, he asked his uncle about his age and was told that he was then 16.

‘I also accept his evidence that his mother told him in early 2024 that he was about to turn 17.’