Foreign Criminal Wins Human Rights Appeal To Remain In UK Indefinitely As Immigration Judge Stops Deportation

Cynthia Barker writes...Yet another convicted foreign killer has successfully appealed to win the right to remain in the UK indefinitely on the basis that human rights under Article 8 would be breached if he was deported and separated from his extended family in Britain, Immigration Judges have ruled against the Home Office.

The Immigration Judges also granted the Somali man anonymity and he can only be identified by the initials MAI. The man had been sentenced to a five year stretch in Prison for manslaughter and also has a string of other violent criminal convictions.

At the Upper Tribunal last month, Immigration Judges ruled that MAI’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which preserves the right to "private and family life", would be breached if the Home Office deported him back to Somalia.

His immigration lawyers also claimed he would be attacked in his homeland by relatives of the man he killed, a further breach of human rights laws since his life would be in danger.

Doesn't the victim also have relatives here in the UK? And perhaps he should have thought about the dangers of revenge killing before he took his victims life?

Following a series of convictions including Home Secretary Theresa May attempted to deport MAI in August 2012 on the grounds that it would be “conducive to the public good” because of his violent history.

MAI appealed to the lower tier tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, which overturned the Home Office deportation order on Article 8 grounds.

MAI said would be the target of a “blood feud” by the family of the FA, who he killed in Cardiff in 1997, who was a member of the Somali Habr Awal tribe.

The Home Office appealed against the lower tier tribunal’s judgment arguing the court had “attributed insufficient weight to the public interest” and that MAI was a “persistent offender”.

At the upper tribunal in April, Judge Nicholas Renton upheld the earlier ruling, blocking MAI deportation from the UK.

The ruling stated:

“The panel found that the appellant had a family life in the UK with his mother, his adult siblings, and his niece, nephew and cousins.

“The appellant also had a private life. The panel concluded that the interference with that family and private life as a consequence of the appellant’s deportation was not proportionate.

“In reaching that decision the panel found compelling and therefore exceptional factors in the appellant’s favour being the fact that excluding the time spent in prison, the appellant had lived in the UK for over 20 years.”

Home Office spokesman said they would appeal against the decision.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We firmly believe foreign nationals who break the law should be deported and we are appealing the tribunal’s decision.

“Under our Immigration Bill, those with no right to be here will not be able to prevent deportation simply by dragging out the appeals process.

“The Bill will reduce 17 rights of appeal to four, and give the full force of law to our policy that foreign criminals should be deported despite their claim to a family life.” 

Whilst this type of human rights judgment in not uncommon, in the case the man is unmarried and has no children. MAI, aged 38, claimed he should not be deported by the Home Office as it would breach his human rights to be separated from his mother, adult siblings, and other family.

I have seen Tier 4 students deported for overstaying their visas even though they had British parents and extended family in the UK. In some cases the students, often from Filipino families, were unwilling to appeal or fight their removal orders from the Home Office.

If you need advice on any immigration matter, including overstaying your visa, EU or UK immigration law, or want to appeal against a refusal, call Cynthia Barker on 07850 307687 or 0208 731 5972 or email her your details to immigration@londonccs.com. Cynthia Barker is a qualified OISC Registered Immigration Adviser, with 15 years experience in immigration matters, with a team of Level 3 Immigration Law Practitioners, Concept Care Solutions, Middlesex House, 29-45 High Street, Edgware, HA8 7UU.

Deportations, overstaying students and the mystery of the Home Office website

Cynthia Barker writes...So sad to read about the death of Peaches Geldof yesterday, another tragedy for Sir Bob. My condolences and prayers go out to Peaches and her young family.

Last week, Mauritian student, Yashika Bageerathi, was deported  from the UK by the Home Office despite widespread protests and the fact she was about to take her A Level exams. So sad for her family who live here, however, she came here on a visitor visa and her subsequent asylum claim had been rejected.

What I don;t understand is why her parents brought her in on a tourist visa, when she was under 18, when she could have come in as a dependent or even on a student visa to study in the UK. Had she had proper immigration advice, she would have entered the UK under the correct visa and would most likely still be here.

Although in this case, the decision to remove the gifted student was technically correct, the fact is, the British government seems to put so much effort into deporting foreign students who are paying billions in course fees to study in the UK, not to mention taxes when they work in the UK.

Wow, busy day ahead! Full diary...another consultation for my team with n overstayer student who, thank God, happens to have an EEA partner.

So many overseas students have been branded as overstayers due to the fact that their student visas had expired during the time their applications for further leave to remain were being processed and later refused - in some cases after almost a year!

Talking about the Home Office, what have they done to the immigration website? Finding forms and guidance is now a nightmare!

For advice on EU or UK immigration law, phone Cynthia Barker on 020 8731 5972 or email her your details and number – Immigration@londonccs.com. Cynthia Barker is an OISC registered Immigration Adviser with a team of Level 3 Immigration Law Practitioners, Concept Care Solutions, Middlesex House, 29-45 High Street, Edgware, HA8 7UU.