London: An Iraqi pupil studying for his GCSEs while claiming asylum is to be thrown out of Britain after it was decided he is really a 20-year-old man.
When he arrived in the UK hidden in the wheel arch of a lorry in 2008, orphan Rabar Hamad, an Iraqi Kurd, told officials he was 14. They placed him in a children's home, gave him a place at a secondary school and encouraged him to study for his exams.
But the same officials later ruled he was in fact 20 years old and should be deported.
The law says children who arrive in Britain alone are entitled to care and education. Every year around 4,000 children enter Britain and claim asylum, while the age of another 1,500 is disputed. Hamad was given an age assessment by social workers at Wigan Council in 2008. They originally decided he was 18. But a second assessment by an independent doctor said he could be as young as 13 and he was allowed to stay.
He was granted a place at a children's home in Oldham, began studying full-time at school and impressed with his soccer skills. But earlier this year Wigan Council ordered yet another assessment after the credibility of the doctor who carried out the second check was called into question following a unconnected High Court case.
This third examination concluded Rabar was in fact a 20-year-old man and he was issued with a deportation notice. His friends and teachers have started a campaign to prevent the deportation and take his case to judicial review.
