A violent criminal paid to return to his home country while still in prison, travelled back to the UK within three months and claimed asylum before taking the government to court.
The case is one of a number of recent and rising appeals being lodged by immigration lawyers at Britain’s dedicated asylum courts.
For the first quarter of 2023/2024, the First Tier Tribunal’s Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC) received over 9,100 appeals.
The latest figures, which cover April to June this year, also recorded a 20 percent increase in the number of live cases in the court system—a total of 30,000.
However, the number of cases successfully disposed of by the FTTIAC has also risen, with 10,000 cases dealt with by judges—an increase of 4 percent.
The Chamber, responsible for handling appeals against Home Office decisions—including permission to stay in the UK—also saw a rise in the number of its judgements being challenged at a higher court.
The Upper Tier Tribunal—which handles appeals against visa, asylum and right to enter judgements—saw a 40 percent rise in cases lodged within a year.
In April to June 2023, there were 740 judicial reviews and 720 disposals.
Deported
The soaring legal challenges have contributed to the UK’s record-breaking asylum caseload which currently stands at 215,500—the highest figure since recording began.Analysis of recent court appeals by The Epoch Times show that some of those cases taken by immigration firms are on behalf of those who have previously been deported from the country lawfully.
A judgement made last week by the First Tier chamber detailed the case of a violent offender who was sentenced to three years in a UK prison in 2017.
The Portuguese man—who was granted an anonymity order—signed a government form stating he did not wish to dispute his deportation.
After seeking legal advice, he withdrew the government “disclaimer” and sought to have his deportation challenged in court.
However, after his legal representatives sent a letter before action to the Home Office, he agreed to take part in a government early release/removal scheme—where he received a cash incentive to leave prison early and return to his home country.
The court heard he again signed a disclaimer agreeing to be removed to Portugal and to withdraw his appeal.
He was deported in September 2019 but, within three months, returned and was “encountered” as he tried to enter the UK at Holyhead port.
On his return, he was sent back to prison and completed his sentence before being transferred to immigration detention and, in July 2020, he was given bail by the First-Tier Tribunal.
His solicitors then challenged the deportation order on human rights grounds, claiming their client had an “unhappy experience” in Portugal, and could not return.
His appeal was dismissed, with a judge stating his claim under the European Human Rights Act was “hopeless.”
Three Dismissals
In another recent decision, issued by the court last week, an unnamed Iraqi national was granted an appeal to have his case heard again after three previous dismissals.The court heard that the 32-year-old man—who was granted an anonymity order—arrived in the UK in on March 2019 and claimed asylum.
The basis of his claim was that he was a gay man and that he feared persecution from his family and wider society if he were returned to Iraq.
However, his application for asylum was refused and his appeal before First-Tier Tribunal Judge Raikes was dismissed in December 2019. Two years later, he again made a fresh claim on new evidence of his sexual orientation.
In Feb. 2023, the judge dismissed the appeal, telling the man he did not accept his credibility as to his sexual orientation.
The judge said he partly came to the decision after hearing evidence from a “sexual partner” of the immigrant.
The judge also drew his decision on the fact the man had travelled through other European countries on his way to the UK and then entered the country clandestinely. After challenging the judge’s dismissal on a number of grounds, the chamber ruled that his dismissal was “vitiated by error of law.”
The man’s appeal has now been remitted for a hearing de novo before the chamber.
In a television interview, Ms. Braverman insisted there are “many instances” where people purport to be homosexual to receive preferential treatment in asylum applications and that the situation is not “fair” or “right.”
The cabinet minister made the comments a day after delivering a hardline speech on migration in the U.S..
She argued that discrimination for being gay or a woman should not be enough to qualify for international refugee protection, sparking a backlash from human rights activists, LGBT advocates, and prominent public figures such as singer Sir Elton John.
Sir Elton warned Ms. Braverman risked “further legitimising hate and violence” against LGBT people and calling for “more compassion.”
Analysis of government figures by The Epoch Times found that over 1,300 immigrants who claimed asylum in the UK last year cited their sexuality as one of the reasons to have fled their home country, Home Office figures show.
Of those, 739 were granted asylum in Britain, while 285 had their claims refused.
The statistics for 2022 show an 89 percent increase in those applying to the British government for protection on sexuality grounds, compared to the previous year.
