DS (Egypt) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The appellant, DS, is an Egyptian national and a member of the Coptic Orthodox Church. With valid visit visas, she arrived in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2023 with her husband, S, and their two children, and she claimed asylum on arrival. Her account began with her paternal aunt. The aunt was said to have disappeared, converted to Islam, divorced her uncle and married a Member of the House of Representatives. The appellant said that after a spring festival party in April 2023 the MP's son, M, harassed her with telephone calls urging her to leave her husband and convert. She also said that M and his men went on to attack S, tried to abduct her and the children, and tracked the family to Alexandria and then Cairo. She relied on documents said to show that an arrest warrant had been issued against her on the day she left Egypt, that she had been convicted in her absence, and that a travel ban had been imposed. She also relied on a country expert's report and on a lawyer's email verifying the documents. On 24 February 2025 the Secretary of State refused her protection claim and associated human rights claim. The respondent later withdrew an apparent concession that the claim engaged the Refugee Convention for imputed political opinion. The appellant appealed under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. Because the claim was made after 28 June 2022, sections 30 to 39 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 applied.