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Iraqi drug dealer ‘too Westernised to be deported’

An Iraqi drug dealer escaped being deported after claiming that he had been in the UK for so long that he had become too “Westernised” to return to his home country.

The convicted criminal was sentenced to five years and four months behind bars for dealing cocaine following a crown court trial in 2015.

He had unsuccessfully tried to claim asylum in 2010 – nine years after entering Britain – but was granted indefinite leave to remain.

The Home Office sought to deport him following his release from jail but a lower immigration tribunal ruled he was eligible to remain in Britain.

However, this was overruled by an upper tribunal judge after the Home Office appealed the lower court’s decision.

The case will now be reconsidered.

Convict ‘at risk of persecution’

The Iraqi man claimed that deporting him would be in breach of his Article 8 rights to a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights. He has a young daughter who is a British citizen.

The court was told: “It was also said that [his] return to Iraq was not feasible and that he possessed several ‘aggravating factors’.”

These factors included his 24-year absence from Iraq, which would mean he would return as a “single lone male and failed asylum seeker, without documentation and with a Westernised profile which, taken collectively, demonstrated [he] had ‘a much higher likelihood of being targeted and persecuted should he be forced to return to Iraq’.”

The man and his lawyers argued he was too “Westernised” to return to Iraq and people in the Middle East country would be suspicious of him.

“It was said that, as a failed asylum seeker, [he] would be arrested under the criminal code, he would be viewed with suspicion returning as a single man without any family support or anyone to vouch for him and he would not be able to access health care, accommodation or employment,” the court was told.

“He would not be able to obtain documentation and he would face persecution because he would be viewed as ‘Westernised’ ... because of his social and cultural attitudes and beliefs.”

Father ‘no longer danger to community’

The Iraqi man had also unsuccessfully applied for a European Economic Area residence card – which allows non-EU citizens to live and work in the UK – as he was the partner of a Hungarian woman with whom he had a daughter in 2014.

The court also debated whether he remained a danger to the community in the UK. At the lower tribunal hearing, a judge ruled he was not, as he had not reoffended and had shown himself to be a responsible family man.

“He had now been out of prison for over five years and there was confidence that he would shy away from criminality and focus on enjoying his family life with his partner and child,” the court was told.

At the latest hearing, Upper Tribunal Judge Anna-Rose Landes ruled the previous judge made mistakes in the law relating to his “Westernisation” and refugee status.

Judge Landes said a new hearing must take place to determine whether the man was entitled to asylum status or “humanitarian protection” under UK law.

Both forms of protection are similar and offer permission to stay in the UK. However, asylum seekers who do not meet the criteria for refugee status can be considered for humanitarian protection.

Judge Landes said: “If the Iraqi is not a refugee then he would qualify for humanitarian protection.”

She also found he successfully “rebutted the presumption that he constitutes a danger to the community.”