An Iraqi asylum seeker has been granted permission to stay in the UK after a judge “confused” Iran with his home country of Iraq.
An assessment by Judge Helena Suffield-Thompson, which was based on guidelines relevant to Iran, meant the unnamed man won his appeal.
Suffield-Thompson deemed that he would be at risk of persecution because of anti-Iraq government posts on his Facebook page that could be subject to surveillance.
She ruled in his favour, noting the “sophisticated” capability of the authorities in Iran to track the social media accounts of political opponents.
An Iraqi asylum seeker has been granted permission to stay in the UK after a ‘confusion’
PA
However, a new tribunal has since ruled that she “erred in law” as the apparent “risks” to the man were based on him being returned to Iran, not his home country of Iraq.
This means the man’s asylum case will be heard again with a new tribunal hearing because of the mistake.
The unnamed Iraqi had his first asylum appeal dismissed in 2019.
In July 2022, a second hearing before Suffield-Thompson saw the judge rule in his favour after he argued “he was at risk from the Kurdish leadership as he had exposed their corrupt practices and behaviour”.
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A new tribunal has since ruled that she ‘erred in law’ as the apparent ‘risks’ to the man were based on him being returned to Iran (pictured)
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He claimed “he campaigned against the Kurdish leadership in the UK” and “expressed his views on Facebook such that he would be at risk of persecution on return as a result”.
However, the Home Office then launched an appeal, stating that the judge “had materially erred by relying on the factual findings of country guidance decisions that did not relate to the country situation in Iraq and instead either related to Turkey or Iran”.
“It is contended, therefore, that the appeal has been allowed on an erroneous basis,” the Home Office said.
The upper immigration tribunal found there was no proof that the Iraqi authorities monitor the social media pages of anti-Iraq protesters, unlike Iran.
It was “clear on both case law and objective background information that the Iraqi authorities have developed various sophisticated means to keep check on the activities of demonstrators, Facebook users, and bloggers abroad,” according to Judge Suffield-Thompson’s ruling, the appeal tribunal noted.
The Home Office then launched an appeal on the judge’s ruling
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Judge Murray said: “It is unclear whether [Judge Suffield-Thompson] mistakenly thought that [Iranian case law] was in fact Iraqi country guidance case law.
“The case reference is incorrectly cited by her… and omits the word ‘Iran’.
“However, and in any event, there is neither case law in relation to Iraq nor… was there any background evidence before her to support the findings in relation to the ‘various sophisticated means’ of the Iraqi authorities to monitor activities of demonstrators and social media users abroad.
“In the circumstances, I conclude that [Judge Suffield-Thompson’s] assessment of the risk on return to the [Iraqi] due to his sur place activities was based on country guidance that did not relate to Iraq.
“I am satisfied therefore that the extent of fact-finding which is necessary for the decision in the appeal to be re-made is such that it is appropriate to remit the case to the First-tier Tribunal with no findings preserved.”
