Latest news with #immigrationtribunal
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Pakistani drug dealer allowed to stay in Britain so he can 'talk to his son about Islam and culture'
A Pakistani drug dealer has dodged deportation after a judge said he played a key role in teaching his son about Islam and his culture. Muhammad Asif Karim, 43, amassed 21 offences after arriving on a visa to visit the UK in 1998 and never going home. He was jailed for four years for possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply but allowed to remain in Britain after becoming a prosecution witness in a murder trial. However, he was kicked out of a witness protection scheme when he continued to offend, and ten years ago he was ordered to be deported back to Pakistan. He only sees his son by a white British mother twice a month, an immigration tribunal heard. But a judge in Edinburgh has now ruled that he can remain in the UK after hearing from the boy on how his father taught him about 'religion', 'culture' and his 'life and upbringing in Pakistan'. In addition the boy's mother had said Karim 'could talk to his son about studying and job choices, he could teach him to shave and talk to him about things a mother could not'. The child was unaware of his father's criminal history. Last October a first-tier immigration judge allowed his human rights appeal against deportation under the controversial 'right to private and family life' under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Now an immigration appeals judge has rejected a Home Office bid to overturn the decision, saying deportation would be 'unduly harsh'. The judge said the boy spoke about how 'his dad is able to talk to him about Islam, about Pakistani culture and his own upbringing'. 'We do not think it controversial to suggest that such matters would have significance for this child, who is himself of Pakistani origin, but is being largely brought up by his white British mother,' he said. Judges felt they were matters 'fundamental to his identity.' They said that while there was 'a particularly strong public interest in removing someone who habitually committed crimes over a 14-year period', Karim hadn't offended for more than a decade. They also highlighted how Karim had suffered from 'significant and debilitating mental ill-health'. 'There was also evidence that he was himself a survivor of violence, trauma and criminality, all of which had played a role in his troubled youth,' they added. The case comes as ministers pledge to drive down immigration and tighten up the asylum system. New legislation is planned following a backlash against cases such as that of an Albanian criminal whose deportation was halted partly due to his son's aversion to the type of chicken nuggets served abroad. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper want to restrict the 'exceptional circumstances' in which judges can currently overrule the Home Office when foreign nationals - including criminals - lodge immigration appeals. In particular it would aim to 'limit successful claims' from foreign nationals who lodge appeals under Article 8. However critics say the long-awaited White Paper contains only vague pledges and question whether it will tackle abuse of the asylum system.
Telegraph
27-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Asylum seeker can stay in Britain after having affair
An Iraqi asylum seeker has won the right to stay in the UK after claiming the shame of an extra-marital affair has prevented him from getting a new ID card so he can return. The unnamed 32-year-old claimed he was at risk of an 'honour killing' if he went back to Iraq because of the relationship he had with a woman outside marriage. He told an immigration tribunal that because of the shame the affair had brought on their respective families, he was unable to get anyone in Iraq to provide him with the ID card that he would need to return. Previous tribunals have recognised that Iraqis without IDs are at risk of persecution and violence if they attempt to return and cross through checkpoints to get home. Returning them to their home country would therefore amount to a potential breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects against persecution. The Home Office appealed the lower immigration tribunal's decision to grant him refugee protection, arguing that the judge had made an error in law. Lawyers for the department pointed to official guidance which decreed that a threat of honour killing against a man was not sufficient reason to grant asylum. However, an upper tribunal rejected the Home Office appeal and backed the Iraqi asylum seeker's claim for refugee protection, allowing him to remain in the UK. The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example uncovered by The Telegraph where illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have been able to remain in the UK or halt their deportations on human rights grounds. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has announced plans to curb judges' powers to block deportations with new legally enforced 'common sense' rules to clarify how judges interpret human rights laws and strengthen the public interest test. The lower immigration tribunal was told the Iraqi did not have access to his ID document, which was left in Iraq, and that he did not have any contact with his family there. The judge said: 'Drawing the strands together and reminding myself of the lower standard, I accept that he was in a relationship with X outside of marriage and this brought adverse attention to them both, which caused them to flee. 'I accept that it [his ID document] was left in Iraq and because of the shame that the appellant has brought upon their respective families, he is unable to have someone provide it to him.' The tribunal also accepted that men, as much as women, could be victims of honour crimes, which meant he had a 'well-founded' fear of return to Iraq. This meant the Iraqi's appeal against his removal on asylum and human rights grounds was allowed. 'The grounds of [the Home Office's] appeal are misconceived. The determination does not contain an error of law, material or otherwise,' the court ruled. 'The judge correctly applied the applicable law… the determination shall stand.'
