UK to deport Afghan torture survivor on Christmas Day (The Guardian) (23 December 2017)

An Afghan asylum seeker who fled torture has been threatened with removal by the Home Office, due to take place on Christmas day. Jamie Bell, Public Law and Immigration solicitor at Duncan Lewis, has been quick to lodge a judicial review against his client’s removal. After a doctor completed a thorough examination, it was reported that the man in question is an adult at risk, as defined by Shaw’s policy. The Home Office has accepted that the man was a victim of torture, however has pursued his removal in order to reduce the time spent in detention. Jamie appeals that his client is at risk of persecution if returned to Afghanistan due to westernisation as he has lived in the UK for more than 11 years and that his previous experience as a victim of torture would make him a target. Jamie states: “This symbolises the complete lack of humanity in the government’s approach to refugees…The Home Office has taken Christmas, a time for compassion, as an opportunity to remove someone to a war zone, thinking it would be difficult to challenge them. They are wrong, on every level.”