Lawyers from Kingsley Napley announced on Saturday that they had lodged the first appeal at the Immigration Tribunal on behalf of their client – named only as ‘Y’ – and her son. They said the judge once presided over cases involving members of the Taliban and violence against women. “If any case should be issued on compassionate grounds, this is it,” said Oliver Oldman, an immigration attorney at Kingsley Napley. “Our client is in constant fear that she will be discovered and deported back to Afghanistan, where her and her son’s personal safety is at risk.” The company said the government’s decision prevented the couple from being reunited with British and UK-based relatives, including her nephew who works as a civil servant. Her family wants to care for her, “mostly at no cost to the British taxpayer”, Mr Oldman added. In a statement, the legal team said Woman Y had been left in a “severely vulnerable position” following the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent return of the Taliban regime. The former judge and her son are currently hiding in Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan, they wrote. Her home in Kabul was attacked and several of her former colleagues were murdered. The lawyers described how Y had tried security cases in which Taliban members, their associates and sympathizers were convicted and who have now been released from prison, holding official positions in the new government. During a successful career in the Afghan judiciary, Y held senior positions in the Criminal Court and presided over cases involving crimes such as violence against women, rape, terrorist offenses and conspiracy against the Afghan government, her team said. Lawyers for Kingsley Napley filed applications on behalf of the woman and her son in November last year, which included arguments under Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights, the right to respect for private and family life. But this month the Home Office informed her lawyers that her application had been refused. Mr Oldman argued that the UK government had a “moral duty to allow our client’s safe passage, given the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and this judge’s lifelong commitment to protecting the rights of women and children as and the rule of law and the defense of democratic values in Afghanistan”. He accused the government of creating “false narratives” around safe and legal migration routes. “Here we have two applicants, fleeing the most acute danger in Afghanistan, who have sought through these supposedly legal routes to reach safety in the UK and join their family,” he said. “It would be hard to find a clearer clarification of the false narrative surrounding safe and legal routes.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 3:23 Life as a woman under the Taliban The government recently released updated figures on the number of people taken from Afghanistan to safety in the UK, following requests for information ahead of the one-year anniversary of Taliban forces taking over Kabul. The total number exceeded 21,000 people, the government said, including British nationals and their families, Afghans working for the UK and people identified as high risk. However, no breakdown was provided of just the number of Afghan refugees who had arrived in the UK. Read more: Taliban still celebrate a year after taking control of Afghanistan Father who served with the British Army in Afghanistan spent a year in hiding from the Taliban A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK is taking a leading role in the international response to support Afghan citizens at risk and has made one of the largest resettlement commitments of any country. “This includes welcoming more than 21,000 Afghan women, children and other at-risk groups to the UK through a safe and legal pathway to resettlement in the UK.” Amnesty International UK said the “jumble of numbers” was a “reminder of the chaos and delay of the UK’s response to the Taliban a year ago”.
