Bristol hunger strike man's request to change age refused
A refugee on a six-month hunger strike in a dispute over his real age has seen his latest legal challenge dismissed.
The Palestinian arrived in the UK without a birth certificate over ten years ago and was assessed as being five years older than he claimed to be. He says his true age is key to his identity and he has been in a lengthy legal dispute with the Home Office. The man took the case to a Judicial Review but a judge has refused his request to change his date of birth. Lawyers representing the man, who has been on hunger strike since 6 March, say they will now take the case to the Court of Appeal. The man said he was 14 when he arrived in the UK as an asylum seeker, but an assessment concluded his age as 19. He was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2019 and asked for his records to be changed but the Home Office refused. The man has post-traumatic stress disorder and learning difficulties, and was tortured and orphaned before fleeing Gaza. He is being supported by mental health charity Bristol Mind. "From the start, the Home Office could have taken simple steps to rectify this situation, giving this man the dignity of his correct age and date of birth," said the group's director, Tom Hore. "It is also sad that the court has upheld a bureaucratic decision by the Home Office that has placed a higher value on an arbitrary procedure than on the value of this man's life." A Home Office spokesperson said: "If there are doubts about an individual's claim to be a child, they will be referred to the local authority for a court approved age assessment. "However, if new information or evidence comes to light, we remain fully open to reviewing decisions on someone's age."