The UK Home Office's treatment of people claiming asylum, who have unknown dates of birth, and the relationship between the state and citizenship

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Many people seeking asylum in the UK do not know their dates of birth on arrival, due to fleeing from countries that do not monitor people's births with the same rigour or means as in the UK, or from communities which do place such importance on age. These people are assigned a date of birth by the UK Home Office, a practice that has considerable implications for the way they are treated. At the same time, the assignment of a date of birth is crucial in incorporating people seeking asylum into the state and so plays an important role in the establishment and functioning of modern statehood and citizenship. The purpose of this research will be to understand the practice of attribution of dates of birth and thus to gain an original insight into the nature of statehood and the relationship between the state and its citizens, both subjects of intense concern in contemporary critical social and political theory.