A man who claims his homosexuality could result in him being persecuted in Pakistan has won a battle in his bid to remain in the UK.
The male, who can only be identified as AR, claims he had to sell a kidney in order to pay for a trip to flee from his Asian homeland.
The Court of Session heard how he was arrested in a Punjab city for allegedly having gay sex in 2003.
The man initially arrived in the UK in 2004 on a one-year work permit visa but claimed asylum three years later.
The court heard that immigration judges heard evidence about the man’s arrest and how he visited gay clubs in Glasgow after his arrival in the UK.
The specialist tribunal was told how under religious laws, gay people in Pakistan faced the prospect of being killed because of their sexuality.
The appeal to the immigration court was prompted by the Home Office’s decision to have the man removed from the UK. But in 2019, first tier tribunal judges refused to rule in favour of the man – and judges at an Upper Tribunal refused to hear an appeal against that decision.
This prompted the man’s legal team to go to the Court of Session – and in a judgment issued yesterday, Lord Doherty upheld their submissions. He wrote: “The Upper Tribunal’s decision should be reduced. It will then be for the UT consider afresh the application for permission.”
