European judges ruled on Wednesday that Britain could not deport a Somali man who had served a prison sentence for burglary because his family could not be relied on to protect him from persecution.
The man, aged in his 50s and identified only as O.A. in court documents, says he fled Somalia after he was shot, and his wife raped, in the capital Mogadishu during vicious clan-based violence in the 1990s.
The east African country collapsed into anarchy after the military regime of President Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. Brutal fighting continued between rival clan leaders for decades that resulted in millions of Somalis fleeing to other African nations and Europe.
O.A. fled to Kenya and followed his wife to the UK in 2003 after suffering persecution as a member of the minority Reer Hamar clan, according to court documents.
He eventually secured refugee status in Britain but it was revoked in 2016 after he served a prison sentence for burglary and blackmail. His lawyers challenged plans to return him to Somalia.
European judges were asked to make a ruling after British authorities claimed his refugee status could be revoked because he could receive some support and protection from his support network in the region, including a sister in Dubai.
But the judges said that governments, and not families or clans, were responsible for providing support for returnees against potential persecution.
“Mere social and financial support … which is made available to the third country national concerned, is inherently incapable of either preventing acts of persecution or of detecting, prosecuting and punishing such acts,” said the ruling of the European Court of Justice, sitting in Luxembourg.
Even though the UK has left the European Union, it still has to follow EU rulings for cases that started before its formal departure last year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted that he achieved his goal when he struck a deal on future relations with the EU last month that he said ensured European courts had no say in future UK decision-making.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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