DEBRAH v Secretary of State for the Home Department
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 01 July 1998 |
| Date | 01 July 1998 |
| Court | Immigration Appeals Tribunal |
Immigration Appeal Tribunal
His Honour Judge D S Pearl (President) Lady Bonham-Carter JP, Mrs M L Roe
R McKee of the Immigration Advisory Service for the appellant
A Mole for the respondent
Cases referred to in the determination:
Yousfi (unreported) (14779).
Lounadi (unreported) (15521).
Jaworski (unreported) (17152).
Dahmane (unreported) (17219).
Asylum alleged persecution by the police behaviour of police not endorsed by government the test to be applied to determine whether there is a reasonable likelihood of persecution under the Convention whether it is established that there is in place a sufficiency of protection from the perspective of international law. UNHCR Handbook on procedures and criteria for determining refugee status para. 65.
The appellant was a citizen of Ghana. He had been refused asylum by the Secretary of State. His appeal was dismissed by a special adjudicator. He appealed to the Tribunal.
The basis of his claim was that as a low-level political activist he was at risk of persecution from elements in the police force. It was not contended that the government endorsed the activities of the police: it was argued that the government however was unable to afford the appellant protection from the police. The police thus became agents of persecution.
The Tribunal considered conflicting earlier determinations by differently constituted Tribunals, notably Yousfi and Lounadi, and discussed the proper test to be applied.
Held:
1. Neither Yousfi nor Lounadi applied the proper test.
1. In considering whether non-governmental groups could be regarded as agents of persecution, it was necessary to determine whether there was in place in the country a sufficiency of protection. That had to be assessed from the perspective of international law.
3. On the facts, such a degree of protection was offered by the government in Ghana.
Determination
The appellant is a citizen of Ghana who appeals against the determination of a special adjudicator, Mrs J L Weinberg who dismissed his appeal against the refusal of leave to enter. The appellant claimed asylum. Leave to appeal was initially refused, but this determination was quashed by order of the High Court on 9 December 1997. In consequence, leave was granted.
At the hearing before us it was common ground that the sole issue was the appropriate test to be applied in a case where the acts of persecution were perpetrated by police officers. The letter from the Treasury Solicitor identifying the reasons for the court order said that the judge was not satisfied that the special adjudicator had...
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