UK barred from deporting criminals

The Government cannot deport “undesirable” or “dangerous” immigrants who may face ill-treatment at home – however bad their crimes in the UK, human rights judges have ruled.

By The Newsroom

Published 29th Jun 2011, 07:00 BST

In a test case ahead of more than 200 similar actions pending against the UK, the Strasbourg judges yesterday decreed that the UK’s duty to protect people against torture or inhuman treatment is “absolute”.

The case involved two Somalis facing enforced return to Mogadishu after receiving convictions in the UK for serious criminal offences.

The European Court of Human Rights awarded Abdisamad Adow Sufi and Abdiaziz Ibrahim Elmi, both currently in UK immigration detention centres, 14,500 euros and 7,500 euro respectively for costs and expenses in bringing the case.

Sufi, 24, claimed asylum in the UK in 2003 on the grounds that he belonged to a minority clan persecuted by Somali militia. His account was rejected as not credible and asylum refused.

Elmi, 42, arrived in the UK in 1988 and was granted leave to stay as a refugee in 1989, renewed indefinitely in 1993.

Government