Asylum Seeker Awarded £100,000 After Being Treated Like a Criminal

Nadra Almas, a Christian asylum seeker from Pakistan, was awarded nearly £100,000 in compensation after claiming she was treated like a criminal for overstaying her student visa.

Ms. Almas arrived in the UK in 2004 on a student visa that expired after five months. She made six bids to remain in the UK between 2005 and 2014, but was served with a notice of removal in 2008. In 2018, she was detained by Home Office officials, handcuffed, and told she would be deported. She was released two weeks later and granted refugee status by the government nearly three years later.

During this period, Ms. Almas was not allowed to travel, work, or claim benefits. She claimed that the way she was treated breached her human rights and undermined her self-esteem. She was awarded £98,757 in damages, which the government appealed. However, the appeal was dismissed, and the court found numerous breaches in how Ms. Almas was detained.

The delay in approving her refugee status was also found to have breached her right to a family life. The judge found that Ms. Almas was unable to work and her home life was affected by the anxiety she felt after her detention. She felt like a criminal and not a good person because she had been detained.