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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> DS (Afghanistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 305 (22 March 2011) URL: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2011/305.html Cite as: [2011] INLR 389, [2011] EWCA Civ 305 |
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ON APPEAL FROM THE ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION TRIBUNAL
Designated Immigration Judge O'Malley
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
LORD JUSTICE LLOYD
and
LORD JUSTICE RIMER
____________________
DS (Afghanistan) |
Appellant |
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- and - |
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Secretary of State for the Home Department |
Respondent |
____________________
Mr John Paul Waite (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) for the Respondent
Hearing date : 8 February 2011
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Pill :
"The sole remaining question is, therefore, whether the appellant's ill-treatment would amount to persecution for one of the reasons mentioned in article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention. The only one proposed is 'membership of a particular social group'."
At paragraph 6, the Tribunal stated:
"We think that for these purposes age is immutable. It is changing all the time but one cannot do anything to change one's own age at any particular time. [Membership of a particular social group depended on his being a child]. At the date when the appellant's status has to be assessed he is a child and although, assuming he survives, he will in due course cease to be a child, he is immutably a child at the time of assessment."
"But his [the Adjudicator's] findings do establish that the appellant is an orphan and would be at risk. In the light of the expert evidence, we conclude that the risk of severe harm to the appellant, as found by the Adjudicator, would be as a result of his membership of a group sharing an immutable characteristic and constituting, for the purposes of the Refugee Convention, a particular social group. We therefore substitute a determination allowing his appeal under s83."
"25. I consequently find there is no evidence upon which I can find that the Appellant's mother and Younus [the uncle] have disappeared. The case is to be distinguished from LQ where the Tribunal was concerned with an orphan who, it was submitted, would be subject to risks of exploitation and ill treatment.
26. I consequently find that the Appellant is not a member of a particular social group as claimed. In Afghanistan he has a mother and his uncle to return to and live with without fear of either exploitation or ill treatment. There is no other issue because it has already been found the Appellant is not at risk from any other claimed source."
Submissions and Authorities
"Member States, protecting the unaccompanied minor's best interests, shall endeavour to trace the members of his or her family as soon as possible. In cases where there may be a threat to the life or integrity of the minor or his or her close relatives, particularly if they have remained in the country of origin, care must be taken to ensure that the collection, processing and circulation of information concerning those persons is undertaken on a confidential basis, so as to avoid jeopardising their safety."
"(1) So as to protect an unaccompanied minor's best interests, the Secretary of State shall endeavour to trace the members of the minor's family as soon as possible after the minor makes his claim for asylum.
(2) In cases where there may be a threat to the life or integrity of the minor or the minor's close family, the Secretary of State shall take care to ensure that the collection, processing and circulation of information concerning the minor or his close family is undertaken on a confidential basis so as not to jeopardise his or their safety.
(3) For the purposes of this regulation -
(a) an unaccompanied minor means a person below the age of eighteen who arrives in the United Kingdom unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him whether by law or custom and makes a claim for asylum;
(b) a person shall be an unaccompanied minor until he is taken into the care of such an adult or until he reaches the age of 18 whichever is the earlier;
(c) an unaccompanied minor also includes a minor who is left unaccompanied after he arrives in or enters the United Kingdom but before he makes his claim for asylum."
"Due to their young age, dependency and relative immaturity, children should enjoy specific procedural and evidentiary safeguards to ensure that fair refugee status determination decisions are reached with respect to their claims. The general measures outlined below set out minimum standards for the treatment of children during the asylum procedure. They do not preclude the application of the detailed guidance provided, for example, in the Action for the Rights of Children Resources Pack, the Inter-Agency Guiding Principles on Unaccompanied and Separated Children and in national guidelines."
Paragraph 68 provides:
"For unaccompanied and separated child applicants, efforts need to be made as soon as possible to initiate tracing and family reunification with parents or other family members. There will be exceptions, however, to these priorities where information becomes available suggesting that tracing or reunification could put the parents or other family members in danger, that the child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, and/or where parents or family members may be implicated or have been involved in their persecution."
Paragraph 73 provides:
"Although the burden of proof usually is shared between the examiner and the applicant in adult claims, it may be necessary for an examiner to assume a greater burden of proof in children's claims, especially if the child concerned is unaccompanied. If the facts of the case cannot be ascertained and/or the child is incapable of fully articulating his/her claim, the examiner needs to make a decision on the basis of all known circumstances, which may call for a liberal application of the benefit of the doubt. Similarly, the child should be given the benefit of the doubt should there be some concern regarding the credibility of parts of his/her claim."
"i) The Government of (sending country) will ensure that unaccompanied and separated children are not returned to Afghanistan, unless return is decided upon in a formal procedure which contains all necessary safeguards, assesses all solutions available to a child, and ensures that the child's best interest is a primary consideration. The child shall be fully informed and consulted at all stages of this process and provided with appropriate counselling and support.
ii) The Government of (sending country), with the cooperation of the Government of Afghanistan, will ensure that genuine efforts are made to trace family members. If family members are successfully traced, the Government of (sending country) in cooperation with the Government of Afghanistan will ensure through an individual assessment that the family is willing and able to receive the child. The outcome of this assessment (where applicable) will inform the decision on return."
These are stated to be "minimum safeguards" and it is added that implementing them "would require the commitment of the sending country to secure the cooperation of the Government of Afghanistan".
"There is therefore a general principle that family tracing should take place as soon as possible, and not necessarily be suspended until the asylum claim is finally determined. However this must be qualified by the need to protect the child's safety and the safety of his/her family that have remained in the country of origin. It will not therefore be appropriate to commence tracing until the case owner understands the nature of the asylum claim and is able to gauge the risk to the child or his/her family."
"to obtain information as to the family's current location and circumstances, and
to obtain information relevant to an assessment of whether there is a prospect of reuniting the child safely with their family in the event of return."
". . .
when assessing claims from children, case owners may need to be proactive in their pursuit and consideration of objective factors and information relating to the child's claim
full consideration of the child's asylum claim should take place before case owners consider their eligibility for any other forms of leave (e.g. Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave)
a specific best interests consideration which satisfies the requirements of Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the section 55 duty must also be abided in every case."
"In all cases case owners must act carefully and communicate their intentions to the child. In some cases, British Embassies/High Commissions may be able to help with family tracing in the relevant country. The post must be given as much information as possible to help them with their enquiries such as details of any visas that the child may have been issued in the past, or information about any school the child attended, etc. The case owner may request a copy of the VAF [visa application form] from the overseas post. Contact details for British Embassies abroad can be obtained from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's website.
Family tracing can be a lengthy process, and contact with the family is only one aspect of the overall consideration.
Any information obtained from the child at interview about the relationship ties with their family and their contact details and as well as information gathered from the family should be considered in the round with the other evidence available. Case owners should not defer making an initial decision pending the outcome of a tracing request, particularly if the decision is to afford international protection to the child. All tracing efforts should be minuted on CID and on the HO file and updated as necessary. Results of the tracing process can be forwarded as additional information within the appeal bundle in the event of a refusal and can be used at appeal even though it was not included in the decision letter."
"Discretionary Leave under UASC Policy [unaccompanied asylum seeking child]
The UK Border Agency has a policy commitment that no unaccompanied child will be removed from the United Kingdom unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that safe and adequate reception arrangements are in place in the country to which the child is to be removed.
Where:-
the child does not qualify for asylum or HP or otherwise under the general DL general policy, and;
we are not satisfied that the child will be able to access adequate reception arrangements in the country to which they will be removed;
the child should normally be granted DL for three years or, with effect from 1 April 2007, until they are 17.5 years of age, whichever is the shorter period. This applies in all cases except where stated otherwise in country specific operational guidance notes (OGN)." [emphasis in original]
"Tracing is an essential component of any search for a durable solution and should be prioritized except where the act of tracing, or the way in which tracing is conducted, would be contrary to the best interests of the child or jeopardize fundamental rights of those being traced. In any case, in conducting tracing activities, no reference should be made to the status of the child as an asylum-seeker or refugee. Subject to all of these conditions, such tracing efforts should also be continued during the asylum procedure."
"23. For our purposes the most relevant national and international obligation of the United Kingdom is contained in article 3(1) of the UNCRC:
'In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.'
This is a binding obligation in international law, and the spirit, if not the precise language, has also been translated into our national law. Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty upon a wide range of public bodies to carry out their functions having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The immigration authorities were at first excused from this duty, because the United Kingdom had entered a general reservation to the UNCRC concerning immigration matters. But that reservation was lifted in 2008 and, as a result, section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 now provides that, in relation among other things to immigration, asylum or nationality, the Secretary of State must make arrangements for ensuring that those functions 'are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in the United Kingdom'.
24. Miss Carss-Frisk [for the Secretary of State] acknowledges that this duty applies, not only to how children are looked after in this country while decisions about immigration, asylum, deportation or removal are being made, but also to the decisions themselves. This means that any decision which is taken without having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of any children involved will not be "in accordance with the law" for the purpose of article 8(2). Both the Secretary of State and the tribunal will therefore have to address this in their decisions.
25. Further, it is clear from the recent jurisprudence that the Strasbourg Court will expect national authorities to apply article 3(1) of UNCRC and treat the best interests of a child as 'a primary consideration'. . ."
In reaching her conclusion, Lady Hale also relied on guidelines issued by the UNHCR. I cannot read her statements of principle as being confined to article 8(2) considerations.
"Member States may consider it the duty of the applicant to submit as soon as possible all elements needed to substantiate the application for international protection."
Article 6 of the 2005 Regulations did not specify that the Secretary of State's obligation was relevant to the merits of an asylum claim. It was included in Regulations dealing with the reception of asylum seekers, but did not require the duty in regulation 6(1) to be performed before the decision on asylum was taken.
"We have taken this evidence into consideration, and we agree that it presents a bleak picture for children who are returned to Afghanistan and who do not have a family that will care for them."
The Tribunal found that the relatives of all three appellants would be willing to care for their respective appellant. It was stated, at paragraph 49:
"None of these boys is an orphan and none is without family in Afghanistan."
"Information was provided that the Red Cross International tracing service is a way for families who have been separated to try to restore contact. It was noted that it is a free service and that in the United Kingdom contact should be made with the local Red Cross Branch; if the organisation feels that it is able to help the inquirer will be asked to fill in a relevant form which will be sent to the headquarters in London, from whence it is forwarded to the appropriate Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in the appropriate country or to the International Committee of the Red Cross. They can offer assistance in putting the parties in contact through letter or phone.
50. In each case this information was provided in the refusal letter to the appellant, but there was no evidence before the Tribunal in any of the cases that any efforts had been made to contact relatives in Afghanistan. None of these respective families lived in areas of Afghanistan where it might be thought that they could have been displaced by the conflict. None of the families lived in the provinces which are under the control of the Taliban or where there is regular ongoing fighting which the generally displaces local people from their areas. There is no reason to believe that the relatives of these three young men are living anywhere else other than where they were previously living when each the appellants had contact with them.
51. There is no evidence of any endeavour being made on behalf of the any of the appellants to make contact with their relatives still living in Afghanistan. As Mr Bedford [for the appellants] accepted, it was not in dispute that the respective families would be willing to collect and take care of these young men upon their return."
"53. The Tribunal finds itself with a similar dearth of evidence in these cases. However, it is known that the appellants would be returned to Kabul. The respondent pointed out the availability of assistance through the Red Cross, to which we have referred above. The respondent also made reference to the International Organisation for Migration which assists Afghan nationals through voluntary returns and reintegration into society. It was pointed out in the respective refusal letters that once an application for return assistance has been approved, the IOM sending mission makes travel arrangements and IOM Afghanistan provides reception assistance through the coordination cell at Kabul airport. Their personnel guide beneficiaries through immigration and customs processes. Temporary accommodation is provided upon request and returnees are offered onward transportation and assistance to their final destination. It is therefore our conclusion that assistance would be available to these appellants, both in seeking out their relatives in Afghanistan, and in facilitating their reunion and the reception of the appellants upon return to Kabul. As noted above, we have no reason to believe that contact with their families would be impeded by the situation in Afghanistan, and we have no reason to believe that the families have moved from where they were previously living.
54. The families were all able to make arrangements for the boys to travel out of Afghanistan and to the west. They travelled with the assistance of agents and each of the families was clearly able to provide the finance for such journeys, which is no small amount of money. We have no reason to believe that their families could not travel to Kabul to meet them on their return. Therefore, while we take into consideration the evidence which has been produced regarding the dangers for children in Afghanistan, particularly those who have no family to turn to, we do not believe that these appellants would face a real risk of such eventualities. There is no real risk that they would be homeless as they have families to whom they could return, and they have uncles who would be able to protect them from any abuse or violence on the journey home. There is no reason to believe that they would have to stay in Kabul other than while in transit, and it has not been shown that the level of violence in Afghanistan is such that they could not travel safely from Kabul to their home areas."
The Tribunal concluded that the evidence did not show that any of the appellants faced a real risk on return to Afghanistan.
Factual issue
"You were asked during your asylum interview a number of questions about Afghanistan, Afghan life, and your life in Afghanistan. You were able to answer these questions and gave credible answers."
"We have now heard from the ICRC that the details given are not sufficient or precise enough to conduct a tracing enquiry. The ICRC has informed us that there is a village in Paktya province by the name of Haibat Khail, but this is not a village in the Takhar province.
The ICRC contacted the Afghanistan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) field officers in Takhar and Paktya province to get more information on the last known address that you gave us. According to the Takhar field officer, there is no village or area by the name of Habat Khail/Haibat Khail. According to the ARCS field officer in Paktya province, there is a village by the name of Habat Khail/Haibat Khali but this is in Zurmat district of the province but the village Soya Khail is not in the close by areas as mentioned in the information you gave us.
Therefore the ICRC would like to request you to confirm if the last known address is located in Zurmat district of Paktya province. Additionally they have asked if you could provide us with the name and address of another relative who could supply information of the current location of your uncle Younus.
We would be grateful if you could provide the information requested by the ICRC to help them continue to locate your uncle as soon as possible."
"24. The address given to the Red Cross for his uncle Younus is not the address he gave to the Home Office or the address mentioned in his first statement at paragraph 2, Taghab. In that statement at paragraph 18 the Appellant said Younus also lived in Taghab. That is not the address given to the Red Cross. It is therefore unsurprising that the Red Cross was unable to find Younus if they had been sent on a wild goose chase to the wrong province and district."
Conclusions
Lord Justice Lloyd :
"That is not, of course, to say that he would be entitled indefinitely to refugee status acquired while, and because of, his minority. He would be a refugee only whilst the risk to him as a child remained."
"3. Where a child has close relatives in Afghanistan who have assisted him in leaving the country, any assertion that such family members are uncontactable or are unable to meet the child in Kabul and care for him on return, should be supported by credible evidence of efforts to contact those family members and their inability to meet and care for the child in the event of return."
"(a) General
79. The ultimate aim in addressing the fate of unaccompanied or separated children is to identify a durable solution that addresses all their protection needs, takes into account the child's view and, wherever possible, leads to overcoming the situation of a child being unaccompanied or separated. Efforts to find durable solutions for unaccompanied or separated children should be initiated and implemented without undue delay and, wherever possible, immediately upon the assessment of a child being unaccompanied or separated. Following a rights-based approach, the search for a durable solution commences with analysing the possibility of family reunification.
80. Tracing is an essential component of any search for a durable solution and should be prioritized except where the act of tracing, or the way in which tracing is conducted, would be contrary to the best interests of the child or jeopardize fundamental rights of those being traced. In any case, in conducting tracing activities, no reference should be made to the status of the child as an asylum-seeker or refugee. Subject to all of these conditions, such tracing efforts should also be continued during the asylum procedure. For all children who remain in the territory of the host State, whether on the basis of asylum, complementary forms of protection or due to other legal or factual obstacles to removal, a durable solution must be sought.
(b) Family reunification
81. In order to pay full respect to the obligation of States under article 9 of the Convention to ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, all efforts should be made to return an unaccompanied or separated child to his or her parents except where further separation is necessary for the best interests of the child, taking full account of the right of the child to express his or her views (art. 12) (see also section IV (e), "Right of the child to express his or her views freely"). While the considerations explicitly listed in article 9, paragraph 1, sentence 2, namely, cases involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, may prohibit reunification at any location, other best-interests considerations can provide an obstacle to reunification at specific locations only.
82. Family reunification in the country of origin is not in the best interests of the child and should therefore not be pursued where there is a "reasonable risk" that such a return would lead to the violation of fundamental human rights of the child. Such risk is indisputably documented in the granting of refugee status or in a decision of the competent authorities on the applicability of non-refoulement obligations (including those deriving from article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and articles 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). Accordingly, the granting of refugee status constitutes a legally binding obstacle to return to the country of origin and, consequently, to family reunification therein. Where the circumstances in the country of origin contain lower level risks and there is concern, for example, of the child being affected by the indiscriminate effects of generalized violence, such risks must be given full attention and balanced against other rights-based considerations, including the consequences of further separation. In this context, it must be recalled that the survival of the child is of paramount importance and a precondition for the enjoyment of any other rights.
83. Whenever family reunification in the country of origin is not possible, irrespective of whether this is due to legal obstacles to return or whether the best-interests-based balancing test has decided against return, the obligations under article 9 and 10 of the Convention come into effect and should govern the host country's decisions on family reunification therein. In this context, States parties are particularly reminded that "applications by a child or his or her parents to enter or leave a State party for the purpose of family reunification shall be dealt with by States parties in a positive, humane and expeditious manner" and "shall entail no adverse consequences for the applicants and for the members of their family" (art. 10 (1)). Countries of origin must respect "the right of the child and his or her parents to leave any country, including their own, and to enter their own country" (art. 10 (2))."
"(1) The Secretary of State must make arrangements for ensuring that—
(a) the functions mentioned in subsection (2) are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in the United Kingdom, and
(b) any services provided by another person pursuant to arrangements which are made by the Secretary of State and relate to the discharge of a function mentioned in subsection (2) are provided having regard to that need.
(2) The functions referred to in subsection (1) are—
(a) any function of the Secretary of State in relation to immigration, asylum or nationality;
(b) any function conferred by or by virtue of the Immigration Acts on an immigration officer;
(c) any general customs function of the Secretary of State;
(d) any customs function conferred on a designated customs official.
(3) A person exercising any of those functions must, in exercising the function, have regard to any guidance given to the person by the Secretary of State for the purpose of subsection (1)."
"When sufficient information is available to make an overall assessment of the child's best interests, the assessment should be balanced against the need to provide effective immigration control."
"Specifically, as Lord Bingham indicated in EB (Kosovo), it will involve asking whether it is reasonable to expect the child to live in another country. Relevant to this will be the level of the child's integration in this country and the length of absence from the other country; where and with whom the child is to live and the arrangements for looking after the child in the other country; and the strength of the child's relationships with parents or other family members which will be severed if the child has to move away."
Lord Justice Rimer :