Taliban Commander’s Nephew Granted Asylum In The UK

A Taliban commander’s nephew who has been granted refugee status in Britain can ​be joined by seven family members currently living in Turkey, an immigration judge has ruled.

None of them speak English, and a tribunal accepted they would place ‘a significant burden upon the public purse’ if they were permitted to move to the UK.

But the relatives – the man’s parents, three sisters, and a niece and nephew – have ‘no options’ and are unable to return to Afghanistan, a judgment said.

It is the latest controversial ruling by Britain’s asylum courts and comes as ministers pledge to limit the freedoms of refugees to be joined by relatives.

The nephew, referred to only as ‘S’ in the ruling, arrived in Britain in 2016. He claimed to be 15 years old but was later assessed as being 18 years old.

His uncle was said to be a Taliban commander who had been pressuring his father to allow ‘S’ to ‘join the jihad’.

‘S’ was sent to Kabul by his father to get away from his uncle.

But ‘S’ was stabbed by two cousins because of the family dispute and he eventually fled Afghanistan, the tribunal heard.

In 2018, an immigration judge allowed him indefinite leave to stay in the UK after a psychotherapist said he had post-traumatic stress.

Meanwhile, ‘S’s’ parents and sisters had all fled through Iran to Turkey, where they feared being arrested and sent back to Afghanistan.

In 2023, his relatives applied to enter the UK, citing the ‘right to private and family life’ under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, but were refused.

However, Upper Tribunal judge Gaenor Bruce has now decided the refusal of entry clearance to Britain was ‘unjustifiably harsh’ and allowed the appeals on human rights grounds.

A lawyer for the family had argued that the sisters were all being threatened with forced marriage if they had remained in Afghanistan, while ‘S’s’ father ‘faced retribution from his brother’.

One sister had married an Afghan man in Turkey – father to her two children – but they split up after he beat her with an iron bar and was later deported.

She and another sister have been working illegally in Turkey, washing dishes to support their housebound parents, both of whom are diabetic, with the father suffering undiagnosed seizures.

An expert claimed ‘S’ was constantly ‘re-triggered’ by his worry for his family, although he’d been able to visit Turkey twice to see them.

He wanted to train as an electrician but was unable to do so due to his mental distress.

In addition, the tribunal was told that Afghans in Turkey are not recognised as refugees and are at risk of ‘violent summary returns’, ‘torture’ and ‘ill-treatment’.

Backing their appeal, the judge said, ‘The relationship between S’s mental health and his contact with his family is at the heart of this claim.

‘Only by being reunited with them will he be able to recover and live a meaningful existence.’

In addition, it was unlikely that, as asylum seekers, the family would be able to look to any other European country to facilitate family reunion, she added.

The judge praised the relatives’ case as being ‘conspicuously well-prepared’ and said ‘S’s’ medical expert had been ‘impressive’.

She accepted that allowing the family members to settle in the UK ‘would place a significant burden upon the public purse’.

‘S is presently unable to work and is reliant on public funds.

‘It is not only likely, but inevitable, that this too will be the position of his family members once they arrive.’

But she concluded that was overshadowed by ‘S’s’ wish to be reunited with his relatives and the ‘precarious’ situation of the other family members.

Earlier this month the government announced it was temporarily suspending new applications for a scheme allowing refugees to bring their family members to the UK in a bid to address concerns over Channel migrants.

It is believed that the Home Office is requesting authorisation to file an appeal against the ruling.

A spokesman said: ‘We have recently moved to suspend the refugee family reunion route, acknowledging the pressures it is putting on local authorities and public services.’

It’s not the UK’s responsibility to take them in. There are other places they can go to; I’m sure they will welcome them with a red carpet – or a prayer mat.

It appears that immigration judges never say no and are not concerned as to the cost to the British taxpayer, and we have some of our British servicemen who fought in Afghanistan living on the streets, while our government gives the enemy houses, benefits and free NHS to boot. The UK has gone quite insane.

Why are the British even paying for this? Why even bother going to work when migrants who have never paid anything into the system can come to our country and get everything they want?

Now that there are more rapists, killers, drug lords, and terrorists residing in the UK, our nation is more dangerous than it has ever been. This is a serious issue that our government is ignoring and has no intention of resolving.

The nephew lied about his age when he came to the UK illegally, so what other lies has he told to justify this judge’s decision, who clearly couldn’t see through his lies or just didn’t want to?