UK Supreme Court says UNCHR grant of refugee status not enough to get UK refugee status

The UK Supreme Court in I.A. v The Secretary of State for the Home Department has rejected a  challenge to the UK government’s refusal of a refugee application in relation to man who had previously been granted refugee status by the United Nations Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The key issue in this appeal was the weight to be accorded by UK authorities to an earlier UNHCR grant of refugee status.  

The appellant, referred to as IA, fled his native Iran when he was 16. In 1998 he applied for and was granted recognition as a refugee in Iraqi Kurdistan on the basis that he feared political persecution. He then travelled to Turkey, where his refugee status was once again recognised by the UNHCR. Three years later he travelled to the UK and applied for asylum.

IA’s application was refused on the basis that his account was found not to be credible due to a number of inconsistencies between his asylum interview and his original application statement. Dismissing IA’s appeal, Immigration Judge Agnew held that the grant of refugee status by the UNHCR was a starting point and was significant, and that clear and substantial grounds were needed to come to a different conclusion to the UNHCR.  Ultimately she found such grounds to exist, saying the applicant had not established that he was involved with the relevant political party or that the Iranian authorities would have any interest in him. He appealed to the Supreme Court.

Prior to the Supreme Court appeal, the UNHCR disclosed documents relating to the earlier grant of refugee status to him. The Supreme Court nevertheless unanimously dismissed IA’s appeal. The court held that the national decision maker must pay close attention to a UNHCR grant of refugee status and considerably pause before arriving at a different conclusion, but that the Immigration Judge had been entitled to reject IA’s appeal in this case. The court did make it clear that IA could submit a fresh claim to the Secretary of State based on the new material from the UNHCR.

Click here to read the Supreme Court Judgment.

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