An Iranian asylum seeker has won the right to appeal against deportation by arguing his large number of Facebook friends puts him at risk of persecution.
The 38-year-old man claimed the Iranian government could be monitoring his Facebook account due to his popularity and attendance at protests outside their London embassy.
Upper Tribunal Judge Rebecca Chapman ruled last month that a previous court was wrong to dismiss this argument.
She granted him the right to appeal for the fifth time after finding the earlier judge had "failed to take account" of evidence about his social media presence.
The man claimed the Iranian government could be monitoring his Facebook account
Getty/PA
The man has spent nine years resisting the Home Office's attempts to remove him since first claiming asylum in Britain in 2016.
Court documents show he came to Britain in 2015 and claimed asylum the following year, losing his initial claim in 2019. His lawyer argued previous judges had made mistakes in their approach to the social media evidence.
Judge Chapman said: "In light of the judge's failure to take account of material considerations i.e. the evidence that he had a large number of Facebook friends or contacts, I find that his findings as to the potential effect of this evidence is unsustainable."
The case will now be reheard by a different First Tier Tribunal Judge.
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The Iranian Embassy in Knightsbridge, LondonPAThe man initially claimed asylum based on "fear of an honour killing in Iran" but this was refused in 2020. He then changed his approach, claiming he would be at risk of political persecution due to his activities in the UK.
His social media presence includes more than 2,500 Facebook friends on a public account. His lawyers argued that even if his online activities were made in "bad faith" to bolster his asylum claim, he would still be "at real risk on return" to Iran.
They said he should not be expected to delete his account and "conceal his activities" as it would not be "proper".
Lawyers for the Home Office stressed that his Facebook account was "minimal and insignificant" and unlikely to attract attention from Iranian authorities.
The Home Office also pointed out that a previous judge had ruled the man's political activities were an "opportunistic attempt to fabricate a claim".
Judge Chapman disagreed, ruling there remains a chance Iranian police might identify him in crowds outside the embassy or from his social media activity.
She stated: "Even if, as the judge found, the asylum seeker was one of a very large crowd of people at demonstrations I find that this does not eliminate the risk to him of identification."
This case is one of many that could impact the UK's immigration system. There are currently a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds.
