Duncan Lewis Secures Refugee Status for Eritrean Trafficking Survivor After Four-Year Legal Challenge (3 July 2026)

The Immigration and Public Law team at Duncan Lewis Solicitors has secured a significant victory before the First-tier Tribunal, with Judge Jackson allowing a vulnerable client's appeal on both refugee protection and human rights grounds.

The case was led by Senior Caseworker Claudia Pijoan Guerra, supervised by Rohena Wallace, following more than four years of complex legal representation.

The client, a young Eritrean man, suffers from complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder arising from a lifetime of persecution, exploitation, trafficking and abuse. The appeal was particularly challenging as an earlier asylum claim had been refused in 2016, with the Tribunal rejecting his account and finding that he had not established his Eritrean nationality or Pentecostal Christian faith.

Under the principles established in Devaseelan, Duncan Lewis was required to present fresh and materially different evidence capable of justifying a departure from the previous findings.

A Complex History of Persecution

The client fled Eritrea as a young child after both of his parents were imprisoned because of their Pentecostal Christian faith, a religion prohibited by the Eritrean authorities. After relocating to Ethiopia with his mother, he was subjected to child exploitation and domestic servitude before becoming involved, under coercion, with activities linked to the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

Following his arrest and torture by Ethiopian authorities, he fled to Sudan before being trafficked through Libya to the United Kingdom, where he arrived in 2015 and immediately claimed asylum.

Despite arriving as a child, the Home Office disputed his age and treated him as an adult. His asylum claim was refused and his appeal dismissed, leaving him homeless and without support for several years. It was not until 2020 that he was referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and began receiving specialist trafficking support. In August 2025, he received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision confirming that he was a victim of trafficking.

Building the Evidence

Duncan Lewis first began representing the client in relation to his trafficking claim in 2020.

The legal team subsequently gathered substantial new evidence, including original Eritrean identity documents that had been retrieved and smuggled out of Eritrea by the client's uncle, expert reports on nationality and country conditions, authentication evidence relating to official documents, and specialist evidence addressing the client's inability to obtain recognition from the Ethiopian authorities.

The evidence demonstrated that the client was an Eritrean national, had no nationality or residence rights in Ethiopia, and faced serious risks in either country.

During the appeal process, the Home Office accepted that the client is a Pentecostal Christian and conceded that, if found to be Eritrean, he would face a real risk of persecution upon return. The Home Office also conceded his Article 8 rights following the birth of his son in 2024.

Successful Appeal

Following detailed submissions and consideration of the extensive evidence, Judge Jackson concluded that the client had established, to the requisite standard, that he is an Eritrean national and would face a real risk of persecution if returned to Eritrea because of his religion and perceived draft evasion.

The Tribunal further accepted that, even if removed to Ethiopia, he would face a risk of persecution due to his imputed political opinion as a perceived supporter of the Oromo Liberation Front.

The appeal was therefore allowed on refugee and human rights grounds.

Representing the Client

The client was represented by Claudia Pijoan Guerra and Rohena Wallace, of Duncan Lewis Solicitors. Counsel instructed was Ubah Dirie, of Garden Court Chambers.

About Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Duncan Lewis Solicitors is one of the UK's leading providers of legal aid services and is recognised nationally for its expertise in immigration, asylum, public law and human rights. The firm's specialist lawyers regularly represent vulnerable individuals in complex and high-profile cases involving refugee protection, trafficking, detention, nationality disputes and judicial review challenges.