Algerian burglar spared deportation after claiming to be gay and trans
A convicted Algerian burglar and robber has avoided deportation after claiming to be gay and transgender.
The 27-year-old serial offender, who was granted anonymity by immigration judges, claimed asylum in 2013 which was granted in the same year with leave to remain in Britain for five years.
However, over the next seven years, he committed multiple offences including burglary, robbery, theft, assault and hate crime culminating in a four-year three-month jail sentence.
Facing deportation, he appealed against his removal which was backed by an upper immigration tribunal on the basis that as a gay man, who 'was and is a transvestite and/or is transgender', he would face persecution if returned to Algeria.
The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example uncovered by The Telegraph where illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have been able to remain in the UK or halt their deportations.
On Wednesday, Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, used a speech in Strasbourg to confirm plans to change the law to tighten the way that judges interpret the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Ministers are proposing to raise the threshold to make it harder for judges to grant the right to remain based on article 8 of the ECHR, which protects the right to a family life, and article 3, which which protects against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Public trust 'eroding'
In her speech, Mr Mahmood said the European Court of Human Rights was 'fraying' public confidence in the rule of law because it is out of step with common sense, according to the justice secretary.
She said public trust in the court was 'eroding' because it 'too often protects those who break the rules, rather than those who follow them'.
After being granted asylum in 2013, the Algerian went on a crime spree over a nine month period which led to convictions for burglary, attempted burglary, threatening behaviour and theft. He was given a warning in May 2015 that he risked deportation if he committed further offences.
However, between May 2016 and June 2018 he received eight convictions including for theft.
He received a second warning letter in September 2018 following a hate crime, and got another warning in 2019.
In 2020, he was found guilty of assault, robbery and breaching a criminal behaviour order for which he was jailed for four years and three months.
A year later, he was issued with a deportation order and his refugee status was revoked by the Home Office.
But an immigration tribunal heard evidence that homosexuals in Algeria were 'subjected to severe societal disapproval and stigma, and are soft targets for anyone wishing to harass or attack them'.
It was told: 'While being homosexual is not in itself illegal, any homosexual or bisexual in Algeria who does not conceal their sexuality is putting themselves at risk of discrimination and persecution, as well as the threat of physical violence.
'Were he to wear women's clothes and make-up, he would certainly draw negative attention to himself, and would likely be subjected to ridicule, hostility and possible harm.
'While there are some transvestites and transgender individuals in Algeria, including a famous transgender boxer, Imane Khelif, and a transgender social media star, Jad Wahbi, they have suffered abuse and harm.'
It was claimed he could end up destitute.
'Risk of suicide'
Immigration judge Christopher Hanson said: 'I find having considered the evidence as a whole that there is credible evidence MS has severe mental health issues which cannot be properly treated in Algeria which give rise to realistic prospects of a further decline in his mental health condition and serious prospects which might, realistically, increase the risk of suicide.
'In any event, the core finding I make is that the Secretary of State has not discharged the burden of proof upon her to the required standard to show that the conditions that warranted the grant of refugee status to MS previously have changed to the extent that he is no longer entitled to a grant of international protection.
'On that basis he is entitled to rely on an exemption to the order for his deportation from the United Kingdom, as to remove him will put the United Kingdom in breach of its obligations under the Refugee Convention. On that basis I allowed the appeal.'
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