MN (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
2014
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
- LORD JUSTICE MOORE-BICK
Areas of Law
- Immigration Law
2014
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
In this case, a Sri Lankan Tamil sought asylum in the UK based on persecution and torture due to his alleged LTTE involvement. The Secretary of State and the First-tier Tribunal denied the claim citing credibility issues. The Upper Tribunal also dismissed the appeal. Central to the case was the tribunal's assessment of medical evidence and whether the appellant would still be at risk upon return to Sri Lanka. The courts found no error in how the tribunals handled the evidence and determined that the appellant was no longer of interest to Sri Lankan authorities.
Judgment
Lord Justice Moore-Bick :
This is an appeal against the decision of the Upper Tribunal dismissing the appellant’s appeal on the grounds that the First-tier Tribunal had not erred in law.
The appellant is a Sri Lankan national of Tamil ethnicity, who entered this country on 17 th September 2009 on a student visa issued to him on 28 th August that year. In February 2012 he claimed asylum on the grounds that he was at risk of persecution in Sri Lanka because of his former involvement with the LTTE. He said that he had travelled to this country on a false passport.
The appellant said that on 1 st May 2009, when he was on his way home after his day’s work, a visit to the mosque and a game of cricket, he was kidnapped by three men who bundled him into a van at gun point. His hands were tied and he was gagged and blindfolded. He was driven to a building where he was held for five days, during which he was tortured. After that, he was taken to an army camp where he was photographed, and his fingerprints were taken. At that stage his wallet was inspected and the contents (which included money he had collected from depositors with the bank at which he worked) were taken. He was questioned and accused of having given shelter to members of the LTTE at his home. When he denied having done so, he was slapped and told that he was lying. He was made to kneel down and was then struck on the back with a rifle butt and knocked to the ground. He then confessed to harbouring seven people whom the army said were prominent members of the LTTE. He said that they had paid him for sheltering them, but he had not known they were members of the LTTE.
The appellant said that he had been detained for about a month, during which he had been questioned and beaten with electrical cables and iron bars. He was told he was going to be killed and was driven to a place in the jungle. He was told to turn his back and expected to be shot, but he saw his father and uncle who had come to take him away. They said they had paid Rs40,000 to free him. Following his release he stayed for about seven weeks at a house belonging to one of his uncle’s friends.
The Secretary of State refused the appellant’s claim for asylum because she did not accept the truth of his account in a number of respects. She did not accept that the passport on which he had travelled was false and, although she accepted that he was of Sri Lankan nationality, she did not accept that he was of Tamil ethnicity. She di