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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> VNM v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] EWCA Civ 47 (31 January 2006) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2006/47.html Cite as: [2006] EWCA Civ 47 |
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COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE IMMIGRATION APPEAL TRIBUNAL
HX05078-04
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
Vice-President of the Court of Appeal, Civil Division
LORD JUSTICE MOORE-BICK
and
LORD JUSTICE WILSON
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VNM |
Appellant |
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- and - |
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SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT |
Respondent |
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Smith Bernal WordWave Limited
190 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AG
Tel No: 020 7421 4040 Fax No: 020 7831 8838
Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
MR. ROBIN TAM (instructed by The Treasury Solicitor) for the Respondent
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Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Wilson:
"the Mungiki is a cultural and political movement based in part on Kikuyu ethnic traditions which are controversial in mainstream Kenyan society. The CIPU Report, describes the organisation as small [but] the Appellant produces a considerable amount of background material which suggests that it is larger and more powerful than suggested by the CIPU Report. Its leadership claims to have 2 million members."
The adjudicator accepted that a BBC news report dated 11 February 2003 provided a reasonably accurate picture of the sect. The report stated:
"Their holy communion is tobacco-sniffing, their hairstyle that of the Mau Mau dreadlocks and the origin of the sect is still shrouded in mystery.
Since the late 1990's, the sect has left behind a trail of blood in its rejection of the trappings of Western culture. … Inspired by the bloody Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950's against the British colonial rule, thousands of young Kenyans – mostly drawn from Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu – flocked to the sect whose doctrines are based on traditional practices."
The report went on to indicate that one of the practices of the sect was forcibly to inflict Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
a) In his refusal letter the Secretary of State had pointed out that Kenya had an area of 224,000 square miles; that in his view, regardless of the truth of her claim, the appellant could safely relocate to a different area of the country from that which she had previously occupied; and that it would be reasonable to expect her to relocate there.
b) In her grounds of appeal to the adjudicator the appellant had complained that there was, on the contrary, no real option of internal flight and that in any event it would not be reasonable.
c) In a statement placed before the adjudicator the appellant had said:
"I am afraid to be returned to any part of Kenya and not to a specific area…
All of Kenya has Mungiki who can travel freely around it and the Mungiki following are already spread everywhere in Kenya. I would not be safe and my daughter would not be safe…
If I was returned to Kenya I would be discovered by the Mungiki people. I am afraid because I know [my boyfriend] and the way the Mungiki people operate. I think [my boyfriend] and the group would make an example of me…
Yes, if I went back to Kenya, at the very least I would be circumcised because Mungiki people would find me and circumcise me."
d) The hearing before the adjudicator inevitably lacked focus because no one appeared for the Secretary of State, with the result that there was no cross-examination of the appellant and no greater stress was laid on his behalf upon any one of the points which had been made in his refusal letter than upon any of the others.
"The Respondent has contended that internal flight is an option. The absence of a representative means that no particular area of Kenya has been identified. I note that the Appellant is a Kikuyu which is the predominant tribe in Kenya. I note also that the Mungiki sect is largely Kikuyu. The problems faced by this Appellant all occurred within a short distance of Nairobi, the capital and largest and most cosmopolitan city in Kenya. The Appellant makes the point that if she is free to travel anywhere in Kenya so are those who wish to persecute her. I accept that internal flight is not an option."
"There is no indication in the objective material that the Mungiki target individual people (other than policemen) or have any connections with the government which would give them access to government records. On the contrary it appears the government sees the group as a threat and have been trying to suppress it.
It is now some 2 ˝ years since the claimant left Kenya and one must doubt whether her former boyfriend or anyone else would have any interest in her if she returned now. But even if they did there is no indication they would have any way of learning that she had returned or having learned, would have any way of locating her so long as she avoids the areas where she has lived in the past. Kenya is a large and populous country and she is a member of the majority tribe.
It is simply not credible she could be found by the Mungiki. She has a viable internal flight alternative and therefore it would not put the United Kingdom in breach of its obligations under the ECHR to return her to her home country…"
"Although the grounds on their face disclose no arguable error of law, it is difficult to see any significant differences between the situation which the Court of Appeal addressed in P and M [2004] EWCA Civ 1640 and the situation in this case. That being so, there is an arguable [error] of law and one that is material."
"She is a Kenyan national born on 27 October 1986. She arrived in the United Kingdom on 22 September 2002 and claimed asylum on 1 October 2002. The facts on which she relies stem from her father joining the Mungiki sect in around May 2000. The family were Anglicans but on joining that sect the father's behaviour became much more aggressive. According to M, in July 2002, the father, with about 20 other members of the sect forcibly performed female circumcision upon her mother, and unfortunately as a result of those injuries her mother died. The father then remarried a member of the sect who insisted that M and her sister, Jane, should be circumcised. Both refused. In the week that her mother's funeral arrangements were being made, 5 members of the sect were involved in raping M and violently assaulting her sister. Her father subsequently forcibly circumcised her sister and told M that she would be next. She managed to escape, however, and joined her uncle who, with the help of the members of his church, collected sufficient money to pay for M's ticket to come to this country."
"Her fear of FGM appears beyond doubt. If it is accepted that she could not be expected to avoid the risk of this being carried out against her will by residing in a different part of Kenya, then her case, technicalities apart, was self evident."
Lord Justice Moore-Bick:
Lord Justice Brooke:
"There clearly must be a strong case before the article is even engaged and then a fair balance must be struck under article 8(2). In striking that balance, only the most compelling humanitarian considerations are likely to prevail over the legitimate aims of immigration control .... The question is whether removal to the foreign country will have a sufficiently adverse effect upon the applicant."
"22. I do not see ... any distinction in approach between Lord Bingham on the one hand and Baroness Hale on the other ... When Baroness Hale spoke as she did, she was ... giving what might be described as some practical application of Lord Bingham's reference [in Razgar, at para 20] to a small minority of exceptional cases. The small minority of exceptional cases will be those where the most compelling humanitarian considerations are to be found.
23. In these circumstances, therefore, I for my part would ... regard Baroness Hale's formulation as a safe guide for those who bear the burden of deciding these matters, consistent as it is in my view with the approach both in Razgar and in Ullah of constitutions of the House of Lords that on this issue were unanimous."