Court Report: Asylum application
Coram Children's Legal Centre
Thursday, June 1, 2017
This case concerned a father (F) and mother (M), both Pakistan nationals, and their child (A) who was born in Pakistan in 2006. In August 2014, A and M came to the UK on a trip, but did not return to Pakistan as had been agreed with F, instead remaining in the UK and claiming asylum.
- F v M and A and Sec of State [2017] EWHC 949 (Fam)
In March 2015, proceedings commenced in the High Court seeking the summary return of A to Pakistan. A was made a ward of court. In June, A applied for asylum in the UK. Her asylum application included allegations against F.
In July 2015, the parents entered into a consent order that provided for A's return to Pakistan and both parents gave undertakings to the court.
M's included an undertaking to withdraw her asylum application and that of A, but she did not do this. In October 2015, both M and A were granted "refugee status" by the Home Office.
The proceedings continued and culminated in an order for A's return to Pakistan, which was successfully appealed to the Court of Appeal by M and A.
The proceedings were remitted to a High Court judge for fresh consideration, in particular for consideration of the interplay between the wardship and immigration jurisdictions in light of the fact that M and A had both been granted asylum.
The case looked at whether A's refugee status was an absolute bar to the family court ordering her return to Pakistan. If so, by what process could the father challenge the refugee status, given that he denied the allegations of violence upon which both asylum claims were based?
The High Court concluded that the granting of refugee status to a child is an absolute bar to any order by the Family Court seeking to effect the return of a child to an alternative jurisdiction.
It was also noted, though, that the Home Secretary is obliged, under the Immigration Rules, to revoke the grant of asylum if it is established that "misrepresentation or omission of facts, including the use of false documents, were decisive for the grant of refugee status".
The case also looked at the disclosure of documentation in asylum cases, finding that a balancing exercise was required when identifying whether or to what extent disclosure should take place.
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