Cessation and review of protection status

United Kingdom

Country Report: Cessation and review of protection status Last updated: 30/05/23

Author

Refugee Council Visit Website

The grounds of cessation are laid out in the Immigration Rules and follow the cessation provisions of the Refugee Convention.[1] The procedure is set out in Home Office guidance.[2]The guidance on revoking indefinite leave to remain was amended in 2021.[3] A case promulgated in 2021 confirmed that Humanitarian Protection (subsidiary protection) can be revoked in cases of serious criminality (correcting a First Tier Tribunal decision that a higher threshold must be reached).[4]

The beginning of the procedure is not the same in all instances. There may be a different trigger, such as the individual travelling back to the country of origin or being convicted of a serious offence which has led to an investigation of the original grounds for asylum. In all cases the applicant is informed of the intention and invited to submit their view to the caseworker. UNHCR will also be consulted, usually after any submissions from the refugee have been received, given 10 days to submit its view, which must be taken into consideration.[5]

The applicant would not usually be interviewed, unless there are specific reasons for doing so. Appeal rights are suspensive i.e. the refugee remains in the country whilst the appeal is heard, unless s/he is outside of the UK.

Review of status and consideration of cessation is not a routine consideration, save in criminal cases and those where the refugee has spent more than 2 years out of the UK or where there is evidence he or she has availed themselves of the protection of the country of asylum e.g. by obtaining a national passport.

It is not applied to specific groups as a matter of policy. In policy terms each case is dealt with on its own merit and there are no reported concerns about how it is applied, other than occasionally in individual cases. A case in 2019 confirmed that revocation procedures could not apply to the dependants of refugees unless the dependant had been recognised in his or her own right.[6]

 

 

[1]  Rules 339A to 339AB Immigration Rules.

[2]Home Office, Asylum policy instruction: Revocation of refugee status, 19 January 2016, available at: http://bit.ly/2kkxPvi.

[3] Revocation of Indefinite leave , Home Office August 2021 https://bit.ly/3Ih3V5p.

[4]  Kakarash (Humanitarian Protection policy) https://bit.ly/3vfxEYP.

[5]   Ibid, para 3.6.

[6] JS (Uganda), [2019] EWCA Civ 1670, Case No: C5/2018/2614 and C2/2019/1244, 10 October 2019,  available at: https://bit.ly/2RVyFjm.  

Table of contents

  • Statistics
  • Overview of the legal framework
  • Overview of the main changes since the previous report update
  • Asylum Procedure
  • Reception Conditions
  • Detention of Asylum Seekers
  • Content of International Protection