Iraqi migrant who told ‘implausible' honour killing story can stay in UK
The Iraqi who arrived in the UK by hiding in the back of a lorry initially claimed that he would become the victim of an honour killing in his home country because of an affair.
He said he had had an affair with a woman who had been married to a senior Kurdish fighter in order to settle a 'blood feud.' This claim was dismissed as 'implausible' by an asylum tribunal which ruled he made a 'pre-planned trip' out of Iraq.
After his initial story was rejected, he argued that he could not return to Iraq because he no longer had a passport or national identity card after handing them over to a people smuggling agent.
An upper tribunal accepted that Iraqis returning to their home country without ID documents can be subject to hostile treatment including torture, in breach of article three of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects against persecution.
His appeal against the rejection of his claim by the lower tribunal was upheld, enabling him to remain in the UK even though he had initially lied over the reasons for leaving Iraq.
The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph where illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have used human rights laws to remain in the UK or halt their deportations.
There are a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds, which Labour has pledged to clear by halving the time it takes for them to come to court to just 24 days.
The Iraqi left his home country in the summer of 2019, arriving in the UK in Peterborough on January 19 2020 in the back of an HGV. He had travelled by plane to Turkey, then to Greece. He initially took his bid for asylum to a first-tier tribunal in 2023, where he made up claims about an honour killing.
But the judgment said: 'The [Iraqi] was found to have fabricated his core claim that he was at risk of honour killing because he entered into a relationship with a woman who had been married to a senior Peshmerga fighter to settle a blood feud.'
The asylum seeker then appealed, arguing that the judge did not properly consider his argument that he should not be deported because he lost his passport and identity card after handing it over to a people smuggler and would face harsh treatment from Iraqi authorities as a result.
In Iraq, citizens must have a Civil Status Identity Documentation (CSID) or a new biometric Iraqi National Identity Card in order to live and travel within the country. Those who do not have them are susceptible to hostile treatment including torture.
Upper Tribunal Judge Paul Lodato said: 'I am satisfied there are cogent reasons to conclude, notwithstanding the lies told by the [Iraqi] about his primary asylum claim, that he did indeed relinquish his passport and CSID to an agent during his journey to UK.'
He accepted it was credible that the 'agent took the unremarkable decision to deprive him of any Iraqi documentation in an effort to make removal more difficult.'
'In broad terms, [he] has never wavered from his account that he handed his CSID card to the agent who was assisting him to reach the UK. Overall, I am satisfied upon consideration of the evidence in the round that the [Iraqi] relinquished his CSID card to an agent during his journey from Iraq to the UK,' said the judge.
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