FR v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The appellant, a national of Bangladesh, claimed asylum in the United Kingdom after arriving on a domestic worker visa. He said he had joined the Bangladesh Chhatra League in 2008 and later the Bangladesh Awami Jubo League as a grassroots activist who held no office. His account was that from around 2013 he was threatened by a named BNP activist and others, and that in 2014 masked men assaulted him because of his political activities. He then went to Qatar on his father's arrangement. He said that after he returned to Bangladesh he suffered a further violent attack on 4 February 2025, including an axe wound to his leg, and that he left Bangladesh on 12 April 2025. He also said that a politically motivated FIR under the Anti-Terrorism Act was registered against him the same day. He relied on his political activity in the United Kingdom and on the fall of the Awami League government as increasing the risk to him. The Secretary of State refused the claim by a decision of 2 July 2025, and he appealed to the First-tier Tribunal. He had been represented until 14 September, but neither he nor any representative attended the hearing at Newport on 17 September 2026. Counsel appeared for the Secretary of State.