MP1, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Defence
| Court | King's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Judge | Mr Justice Julian |
| Neutral Citation | [2024] EWHC 410 (Admin) |
| Date | 04 March 2024 |
| Year | 2024 |
| Counsel | Duran Seddon Kc,Ali Bandegani,Edward Brown Kc,Luke Tattersall |
Neutral Citation Number: [2024] EWHC 410 (Admin)
Case No: AC-2023-LON-002091
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Date: 04/03/2024
Before :
MR JUSTICE JULIAN KNOWLES
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Between :
THE KING ON THE APPLICATION OF MP1 Claimant
- and -
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE
-and-
MP2-MP5
Defendant
Interested
Parties
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Duran Seddon KC and Ali Bandegani (instructed by Wilson Solicitors LLP)
for the Claimant
Edward Brown KC and Luke Tattersall (instructed by GLD) for the Defendant
The Interested Parties did not appear and were not represented
Hearing date: 16 November 2023
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Approved Judgment
This judgment was handed down remotely at 14:00 on 4 March 2024 by circulation to the
parties or their representatives by e-mail and by release to the National Archives.
.............................
Mr Justice Julian Knowles:
Introduction
1. The Claimant, MP1, is a lawyer and former Afghan judge. The Interested Parties are
his wife and children. They are all Afghan nationals. An order has been made
preventing their identification. The reasons for that will become obvious. I have
endeavoured in this judgment to give sufficient detail to allow it to be comprehensible,
whilst at the same time protecting the Claimant and his family’s anonymity. I am
satisfied on all of the evidence, some of which I will describe, that they are at real risk
from the Taliban in Afghanistan.
2. The Claimant challenges the Defendant’s decision dated 4 May 2023, taken by the
Defence Afghan Relocation and Resettlement Review Panel (hereafter ‘the Second
Review Panel’), that he and his family are not eligible for relocation to the UK under
the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
3. The Claimant’s application was first refused on 30 March 2022. This decision was then
reviewed twice, leading to the final decision on 4 May 2023 – hence the Second
Review Panel.
4. Had the Claimant been found to qualify under the ARAP then he and his family would
have been entitled to apply for entry clearance to the UK under the Immigration Rules
(the Rules).
5. The principal issues arising on this claim are whether the Second Review Panel in the
following respects:
a. Ground 1: that it failed (a) to consider relevant evidence before it; and (b) to
provide sufficient reasons for its decision in the light of the evidence; and so (c)
rendered a decision that was unreasonable and irrational.
b. Ground 2: that it mis-construed and applied an unlawfully narrow approach to
the ARAP.
6. In this judgment: ‘CB’ is Core Bundle’; ‘SB’ is Supplementary Bundle; ‘SFG’ is the
Claimant’s ‘Statement of Facts and Grounds; ‘SGD’ is the Defendant’s Summary
Grounds of Defence; and ‘DGD’ is his Detailed Grounds of Defence.
The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP)
7. The background to the ARAP was set out by Hill J in R (JZ) v Secretary of State for
the Home Department [2022] EWHC 2156 (Admin), [7]-[9].
8. ARAP was launched on 1 April 2021 and remains in force. It has been revised several
times. The version I am concerned with is that which was in force on 30 March 2022,
when the initial decision was taken to refuse the Claimant’s application. It is and was
contained in Appendix ARAP to the Rules.
9. When the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the UK
Government (HMG) evacuated British nationals and certain groups of Afghans, and
brought them to the UK under Operation Pitting. During that operation, there was an
identified need to assist others at risk, and an additional cohort of Afghans were
granted leave to remain outside the Rules (LOTR).
10. The Introduction to the ARAP states:
“Introduction
Background
In recognition of the commitment and bravery shown by
local staff who supported the UK in Afghanistan, the UK
government introduced 2 schemes: the ‘Intimidation
Policy’ introduced in 2010 and the ex-gratia scheme
(EGS) introduced in 2013. These policies were designed
to support those who worked with or alongside British
Forces in Afghanistan, often in dangerous and challenging
situations, offering relocation to those at risk as a result of
their work.
The intimidation policy closed in 2021, and the EGS
closes on 30 November 2022, at which point the Afghan
Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) will be the
sole route to relocation in the UK for Afghans who
worked with or with the UK government in Afghanistan.
The ARAP scheme was implemented on 1 April 2021
under the Immigration Rules …
Policy intention
The policy intention is to:
• honour the service of eligible Afghan citizens by
providing support that properly reflects their work and the
risks involved
• ensure that eligible Afghan citizens, their partner,
dependent children and eligible additional family
members, who relocate to the UK, can do so permanently
to build their lives and their future in the UK.”
11. An application by an Afghan under the ARAP goes to the Ministry of Defence
(MoD). An eligibility decision is made by the Defence Afghan Relocations and
Resettlement team (DARR), following a referral to the relevant UK
government department where that is necessary. Other government
departments can be consulted where necessary as part of the process to
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