United Kingdom - YT v SSHD

The Appellant was born in Algeria. He came to the United Kingdom as a victim of human trafficking in 2015 (a fact which the Respondent accepted). The Respondent sought the Appellant’s removal back to Algeria.

The Appellant argued that he should not be removed from the United Kingdom citing grounds under both Articles 3 and 8 ECHR. The arguments run on Article 3 ECHR grounds were that the Appellant’s birth was never registered in Algeria which meant that he had no idenitity documents. He stated that the Algerian police had previously mistreated him when he had asked for assistance, and absent identification documents, he would be unable to rent any accommodation in Algeria. The judge did not accept that the Appellant had provided sufficient evidence to show that he would be denied all assistance by the Algerian State, or that the Algerian State had sought to deny the Appellant’s nationality. The judge concluded that the Appellant had not met the test set out in N (2005) UKHL 31 and dismissed the Article 3 ECHR aspect of the appeal.

In relation to Article 8 ECHR grounds, the Appellant relied on two expert reports. One of these reports stated that the Appellant suffered from complex PTSD which had had a substantial impact on his educational, social, interpersonal and occupational functions. The second expert report stated that were the Appellant to be removed to Algeria, he would significantly struggle to access proper long term support and would likely find himself homeless. The judge accepted these reports and found that the Appellant should at the very minimum be expected to be able to find accommodation and have the potential to find work were he to be removed to Algeria. As such, while the Appellant continued to suffer with his complex PTSD, he should not be removed from the UK.