GS v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The appellant, GS, is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, born in 1990. She applied on 7 March 2023 for protection and on human rights grounds, claiming that she is a lesbian and would be at risk on return to the DRC. The Secretary of State refused the claim by a decision dated 4 March 2025, and she appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) under section 82(1) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. By the time of the hearing the issues had narrowed considerably. It was agreed that the Refugee Convention was engaged, the convention reason relied on being membership of a particular social group, and the Secretary of State conceded that lesbians are persecuted in the DRC and did not rely on state protection, internal relocation or section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004. The plausibility of the account was not challenged. The parties agreed that the sole issue was whether the appellant is in fact a lesbian, that the credibility of her account informed but did not determine that question, and that the Article 8 claim stood or fell with the protection claim. No Article 3 medical claim was pursued. The appellant gave oral evidence in Lingala through an interpreter, and relied on a witness statement from FK and a report from Dr Kodi.