Syrian refugee who UK officials claimed was 28 was only 17

Charity workers and teachers left shocked after boy was deemed to be 11 years older than his true age

Migrants cross the English Channel. The Syrian boy arrived in the UK after doing likewise. Getty Images

A refugee from Syria who Home Office officials insisted was 28 due to his beard line and deep voice was in fact 17, a court has ruled.

When he arrived in the UK, the boy, who had been smuggled across the English Channel, was placed in adult accommodation rather than with children's services because of the erroneous assessment.

Hundreds of child asylum seekers have been placed in unsupervised adult accommodation or detention after their ages were assessed wrongly, which campaigners say puts them at risk of abuse.

Many have gone to court to challenge the decisions but charity workers, teachers and others who came into contact with the Syrian refugee were left dumbfounded by officials’ claims he was nearer 30 than a teenager.

The judge hearing the case said in her ruling that is made “one wonder if they were actually observing the same person”.

The Refugee Council’s Kama Petruczenko told The National she was "absolutely astonished that we allow even one child to go through what this child went through, which is absolutely shattering".

“Sadly, such cases are not rare, and many children have to go through the court process to be safe and access education, to essentially prove what they were saying from the beginning, that they are children,” said Ms Petruczenko, senior policy analyst.

A migrant after being rescued from a boat in the English Channel. AFP

“Children end up sharing rooms with adults, are erroneously placed in adult detention centres, or in adult prisons, because the system regards them as adults and there are no safeguards for them and that’s frankly appalling.”

In another case, an article on the age boys start shaving from razor manufacturer Gillette's website was used by UK authorities to try to prove a child Afghan asylum seeker was an adult.

The Syrian refugee, who cannot be named for legal reasons, left Syria after the Kurdish YPG militia made a request for him to serve with them, which left the boy’s father fearful his son would be killed.

He was eventually taken by people smugglers across Europe and then crossed the English Channel by boat to the UK with other migrants.

When he arrived he told Home Office he was born on June 20, 2005 but they assessed him as having been being born on June 20, 1994.

He was described by Liverpool City Council as having a “defined beard line across his face with dark shadows” and characteristics of an adult such as a deep voice and prominent Adam’s apple.

The asylum seeker, known as MAA in court documents, was place in adult accommodation which left him “lonely, scared and unhappy”. His case was taken up by the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, which challenged the assessment of his age.

A number of witnesses who gave evidence to the age assessment hearing at a court in Manchester gave opposing accounts of his appearance.

Helene Santamera, who worked as a refugee support worker for the British Red Cross, said she was "astounded it could be said that he looked to be 28”.

At a Christmas party he chose a teddy bear as a present and “he did not look out of place with other young people”.

She noted "he spoke with a tone that was slightly high as expected from a teenager" and she could see no defined beard line.

Judge Susan Kebede ruled the asylum seeker was the age he said and the claim that he was 11 years older was the “unreasoned opinion of an immigration official whose experience in age assessment is unknown”.

Ms Petruczenko said it is "important to highlight that the judge was very clear that visual assessments are unreliable and that inconsistencies that may arise during the age determination process should always be put to a child so they can respond to them".

"It’s really important that children are given this opportunity, and in this case, they weren’t," she said.

"The strong impression you are left with is that the social workers in question concluded early on that they were dealing with an adult and built a narrative that would prove that point, rather than give this child a fair opportunity to be properly assessed."

The Home Office has been approached for a response. Liverpool City Council declined to comment.