Tribunal decisions

The decision

IAC-AH-KEW-V1

Upper Tribunal
(Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Appeal Number: AA/09981/2015

THE IMMIGRATION ACTS

Heard at Bradford UT
Decision & Reasons Promulgated
On 5th January 2017
On 19th January 2017

Before

DEPUTY upper tribunal judge ROBERTS

Between

B A M
(ANONYMITY DIRECTION Made)
Appellant

and

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT

Respondent

Representation:

For the Appellant: Miss Warren of Counsel
For the Respondent: Mrs Petterson, Senior Home Office Presenting Officer

Anonymity

Rule 14: The Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008
An anonymity direction is hereby made on account of this matter being a protection claim.

DECISION AND REASONS

1. The Appellant is a national of Libya. He appeals with permission to the Upper Tribunal against the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Judge Spencer) dismissing his appeal against removal to Libya on asylum, human protection and human rights grounds.
Background
2. The Appellant entered the UK in January 2015 travelling via an air flight from Tunisia and claimed asylum on arrival. His core claim amounts to saying the following. He is a member of the pro-Gadaffi Warshafana Tribe. He said that he worked in a car repair garage from 2009 to 2011 and that the garage was used to service and repair government vehicles.
3. After the revolution in 2011, he stopped working in the garage and returned to his home town of Warshafana. He remained there from 2011 to 2014, but in 2014 militia troops came and attacked the town.
4. He said his house was destroyed and his brother kidnapped. He managed to escape the militia troops but found out later that his brother had died.
5. His parents fled to Bani-al-Waheed but he decided to leave the country, because he found out that he is on a "wanted" list. The Respondent disbelieved the Appellant's account and refused asylum.
6. When the matter came before the First-tier Tribunal, the judge made several findings which led him to the conclusion that the Appellant's core story was not credible.
He accepted, and it was not challenged, that the Appellant is a Libyan national however;
He found with good reason that the Appellant had submitted a fraudulent ID card and;
He did not accept as credible the copy death certificate relating to the Appellant's kidnapped brother.
7. The judge concluded therefore that there was nothing in the Appellant's history which would expose him to a risk of persecution or other ill-treatment directed at him. He then considered the question of risk to the Appellant, on return to Libya. He appeared to accept that the Appellant's parents have relocated to Bani-al Waheed and on the Appellant's own account are safe there. The judge found therefore that Bani-al-Waheed would be a safe destination for the Appellant and he could join his parents there and that they would provide any necessary support. However the judge also accepted that there is indiscriminate violence in Libya and accepted that events there have changed there since the CG case of AT and Others. Having found that there is indiscriminate violence in certain areas of Libya, the judge simply said that because the Appellant's parents are safe in Bani-al-Waheed then the Appellant could join them there. There was no evaluation of the Art.15(c) risk at the point of return.
Onward Appeal
8. The Grounds of Appeal against the judge's decision do not challenge the judge's assessment of the Appellant's credibility or his conclusions about the factual basis of the Appellant's claim. I see no reason to disturb those findings and they are to be regarded as final for the purposes of this appeal.
9. The grounds argue firstly that the judge did not direct himself to the correct standard for internal relocation and secondly but equally as important did not consider the danger and difficulty of returning this Appellant to Bani-al-Waheed, considering that Tripoli International and Benghazi Airports are closed.
10. I heard brief submissions from Miss Warren for the Appellant and Mrs Petterson for the Respondent. Miss Warren's submissions, briefly, kept to the grounds seeking permission and emphasised that what was in issue amounted to a lack of findings on the Art.15(c) risk to the Appellant. Mrs Petterson although relying on a Rule 24 response, nevertheless did not strongly resist the application.
11. I find force in Miss Warren's submissions, and I find that in an otherwise well-constructed decision, at least so far as the Appellant's core claim is concerned, the judge has not adequately considered and given reasons for why it would not be dangerous and difficult to return this Appellant to Libya at the present time. The judge has not adequately given consideration to whether internal relocation to Bani-al-Waheed or elsewhere in Libya is a viable option. Those questions are central to the issue of risk on return. That is an error and, as it is a material error, I hereby set aside the decision of the First-tier Tribunal insofar as the question of risk on return and internal relocation is concerned.
12. Both representatives were of the view that should I find an error of law in the decision on those matters, then the appropriate course would be to remit the matter to the First-tier Tribunal for full and fresh findings of facts to be made on those issues. I agree that this is the appropriate course. However all findings regarding the Appellant's credibility and the core claim of the Appellant are hereby preserved.

Notice of Decision

The decision of the First-tier Tribunal is set aside for error of law. The matter is remitted to that Tribunal (not Judge Spencer) for a re-hearing on the issues of Art.15(c) risk on return.

Direction Regarding Anonymity - Rule 14 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008

Unless and until a Tribunal or court directs otherwise, the Appellant is granted anonymity. No report of these proceedings shall directly or indirectly identify him or any member of his family. This direction applies both to the Appellant and to the Respondent. Failure to comply with this direction could lead to contempt of court proceedings.

Signed C.E. Roberts Date 18th January 2017

Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Roberts