Sri Lankan National, Initially Denied Asylum, Wins Appeal Following Concerns Over Previous Judgement
A Sri Lankan national, identified only as “YA,” has won an appeal against a previous decision denying his UK asylum claim. Teh appeal, heard at an immigration Upper tribunal in Birmingham, stems from concerns regarding procedural errors in the initial assessment by the Home Office.
YA and his wife entered the UK in 2022, seeking asylum and claiming fear of persecution in their home country. YA had been previously detained in Sri Lanka in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, wich killed 269 people across multiple Catholic churches and hotels. The attacks were carried out by members of the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ), a domestic extremist group, and claimed by Islamic State (IS).
The home Office initially persistent YA did not qualify for asylum, a decision he later challenged. Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Claire Burns identified “multiple legal errors” in the original judgement, including a failure to properly consider evidence regarding YA’s release on bail after an arrest warrant was issued.
Judge Burns also noted concerns about potential bias, stating that previous judges were allegedly “highly prejudiced” against the applicant.
As an inevitable result, the case will be sent back to the First-tier Tribunal for a complete rehearing. Judge Burns stated, “I find ther will need to be a complete rehearing wherein the Judge will make findings about the credibility of [the applicant’s] account and given the nature and extent of the fact finding the appeal should therefore be remitted to the First-tier Tribunal.” She further added, “I determine that no facts should be preserved,” to allow the new tribunal to conduct a full and impartial assessment of all evidence, both oral and documentary.
