AT & Ors v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The Appellants, AT and his three children BT, CT and DT, are nationals of Afghanistan. AT arrived in the United Kingdom in 2023 and claimed asylum; the claims of BT, CT and DT were advanced on the same factual basis under the Family Asylum Claims process. AT is a dentist who says that his senior position at a prominent private dental clinic brought him into professional contact with senior officials of the former Afghan government, military personnel and foreign nationals, with the result that the Taliban regarded him as a spy or collaborator. His account is that armed Taliban members came to the clinic in late 2022, detained him, accused him of spying and seriously assaulted him, and that his father secured his conditional release through community contacts. The Secretary of State, by decisions dated 30 August 2024, refused the protection and human rights claims: identity and nationality were accepted, but not that AT had attracted adverse Taliban interest as claimed. The appeals came before the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) at Birmingham, heard together in person. Before evidence was called, the Respondent conceded that removal would breach the Appellants' rights under Article 8, and indicated that leave would be granted administratively if the protection claim were withdrawn; no such leave having been granted, and AT wishing on instructions to pursue protection, the disputed protection issues fell to be determined.