JS & Anor v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The First Appellant, a citizen of Bangladesh, came to the UK on a student visa in March 2021. Her case is that during the COVID-19 pandemic her mother's business in Bangladesh failed and her mother borrowed money from GA, an influential local figure, who then proposed to accept the debt as a "dower" in exchange for marrying her. In the UK the First Appellant had a brief relationship which resulted in the birth of the Second Appellant, her daughter, in December 2021; the child has since been diagnosed with autism. Her family in Bangladesh were angry at her having a child outside marriage, wanted her to have an abortion, and have demanded she return and place the child for adoption, while GA has threatened her with sexual assault and an acid attack if she does not return and marry him. The Appellants made protection and human rights claims on 22 April 2022, which the Secretary of State refused by a decision dated 23 December 2023. They appealed to the First-tier Tribunal under the Nationality, Immigration, and Asylum Act 2002, relying on membership of a particular social group, humanitarian protection, very significant obstacles to integration, and Article 8 of the ECHR. The appeals were heard at Taylor House on 29 June 2026, with written submissions following.