It’s thought he would be in danger if he were sent back to Egypt
An Egyptian national who is deemed “a danger to the community” has been allowed to stay in the UK because a judge ruled there is a risk he could be punished if he returns to his home country.
The 24-year-old, who has been granted anonymity, has committed at least 19 crimes in Britain, including robbery, his immigration tribunal heard.
He arrived in the UK on the back of a lorry when he was 14 years old, having travelled across Europe under the control of people traffickers.
The young man appealed to the upper immigration tribunal after an initial unsuccessful appeal when he was granted leave as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child, but refused protection in the UK in 2016.
He has now won his case after he claimed he would be at risk of persecution in Egypt, where his father has protested against the government as part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The tribunal heard that the 24-year-old’s father had been detained and imprisoned, escaped and has since fled to the mountains in north-eastern Egypt.
The migrant has been imprisoned at jails in Kent and Nottingham, having also been convicted of affray and assault on an emergency worker.
He has suffered with his mental health for many years, the tribunal heard, and Judge Gaenor Bruce accepted that this, along with substance misuse, has played a “significant role” in the 24-year-old’s offending.
The migrant is legally considered a “foreign criminal” and a “danger to the community”, the tribunal heard.
The judge heard the appeal in Central London earlier this year and in her decision published on Friday she granted his appeal on human rights grounds.
“I accept that mental ill health, and the substance misuse that has followed, has played a significant role in the appellant’s offending,” Judge Bruce wrote.
“The probation service has consistently identified drug and alcohol use as being factors that increase risk, and it is clear from the various reports I have been given on the appellant’s mental health that when he is not ‘using’ he is much better, has remorse for, and insight into, his offending and is able to approach the difficulties he faces with a positive attitude.
“The difficulty is that none of that detracts from the fact that the Appellant keeps committing crimes.”
Judge Bruce ruled there is a “real risk” that should the 24-year-old return to Egypt, he could be detained to “flush out” his father, who is on the run.
Concluding her decision, Judge Bruce wrote: “The appellant has not been able to rebut the presumption (in Section 72 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002) that he remains a ‘danger to the community’.
“His appeal nevertheless falls to be allowed on protection grounds because I accept that there is a real risk that if returned to Egypt the appellant will face torture or other ill-treatment that would amount to a violation of the UK’s Treaty obligations under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
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