Illegal migrant ‘in UK too long’ to be deported

An illegal migrant won’t be deported because he has been in the country for so long, a judge has ruled.

Puspam Elangeeran, 52, who arrived in the UK from Sri Lanka in 2000, fought multiple legal cases seeking asylum until an immigration judge ruled in June 2022 that he had exhausted his appeal rights.

Mr Elangeeran challenged that decision and won a series of appeals against deportation, claiming it would breach his human rights and be “unjustifiably harsh” to return him to Sri Lanka, given the length of time he has lived in Britain.

Two judges at an upper immigration tribunal agreed that he should not be removed after 25 years of continuous residence, accepting there would be “very significant obstacles” to his safe and successful return to Sri Lanka after so long, and he would face “unjustifiable harsh consequences”.

Senior MPs claimed the decision, revealed in court documents, was “appalling” and brought the entire legal system into disrepute.

Appeal under ECHR

Mr Elangeeran argued his removal would be a breach of his Article Eight rights to a family and private life under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

This was despite the court accepting that Mr Elangeeran’s sister, who lives in the UK, lied about how many relatives he still had in Sri Lanka to bolster his claim.

The judges cited a previous ruling which stated that “any court or tribunal must be very careful not to dismiss an appeal just because an appellant has told lies”.

It continued that judges “should not jump too readily to the conclusion that because the appellant has told lies about some matters then his credibility on all matters is fatally undermined”.

The tribunal judges said: “Whilst it might be reasonably concluded that the appellant had overstated his case in terms of his lack of remaining ties to Sri Lanka and was prepared to tell lies, it does not necessarily follow that he lied about his continuous residence in the UK.”

‘Unacceptable decision’

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “I’m appalled by this decision. It is unacceptable that a bogus asylum seeker who dragged out legal proceedings for literally decades and who lied to the court was allowed to stay.

“Decisions like this bring the entire legal system into disrepute and make the case that urgent changes to the law are needed. In the meantime, judges should start to apply some common sense to these cases and stop illegal immigrants making a mockery of our system.”

The Telegraph has exposed other cases, including that of a Zimbabwean jailed for killing a man in a car crash who was allowed to live in the UK because he had a love child.

The Zimbabwean, who has been granted anonymity, fought off an attempt to deport him by the Home Office by claiming his removal would breach his Article Eight rights under the ECHR.

A foreign armed bank robber also won the right to live in Britain by claiming that deportation would breach his human rights.

An Albanian wanted for murder in his home country and another who sneaked back into Britain after being deported won the right to stay in the UK under the ECHR.