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Home ›United Kingdom: UK Supreme Court - Preliminary Reference to the CJEU on the Qualification Directive
The case MP (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department concerns a Sri Lankan national that arrived in the UK in January 2005 aged 28. The appellant claimed asylum on the ground that he had been a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan (LTTE), and had been detained and tortured by Sri Lankan security forces. He contended that on return he was likely to suffer similar ill-treatment. A report by a psychiatrist revealed that the applicant was suffering from a severe post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression. Additionally, the applicant showed a high risk that he would commit suicide. The Court of Appeal rejected his appeal on the basis that “the alleged future harm would emanate not from the intentional acts or omissions of public authorities or non-state bodies, but instead from a naturally occurring illness and the lack of resources to deal with it in the receiving country”.
The appellant argues before the Supreme Court that this is too narrow a view of the scope of the Qualification Directive and that his mental illness should not be regarded as naturally occurring because it was caused at the hands of the Sri Lankan authorities. For this reason, the appellant’s return would cause him severe mental harm which would amount to a violation of Article 3 of the ECHR. Hence, he should in the same manner be granted subsidiary protection under the Qualification Directive. It makes no difference to his entitlement to subsidiary protection that there is no longer a risk of the ill-treatment which caused his current health status.
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