AAZA (Yemen) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent)

Permission to Appeal application lodged

Case summary
Permission to Appeal
Previous proceedings

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2025/0130

Parties

Appellant(s)

AAZA

Respondent(s)

Secretary of State for the Home Department

Issue

Does the Appellant’s removal to China breach the UK’s obligations to persons entitled to humanitarian protection? Does the Respondent have the burden of proof to show the safety of return to China including re-entry and the risk of refoulment to Yemen? Was the risk of refoulment from China to Yemen a readily discernible and obvious point so that the Appellant was entitled to raise it for the first time on appeal?

Facts

The Appellant is a citizen of Yemen. The Appellant had resided in China with his family since he was 1 year old, but he does not have Chinese citizenship. On 4 December 2019, the Appellant’s father and other Yemeni citizens organised a conference where Yemeni nationals resident in China raised money and provided clothing to support displaced citizens of Yemen. During the conference those who attended raised the problem of the persecution of the Uighur people in China. This is a taboo subject for the Chinese authorities. The Appellant’s role at the conference was to distribute leaflets raising awareness about the conflict in Yemen. The Appellant was granted a short-term visa as a student for the period 13 December 2019 to 13 June 2020. The Appellant arrived in the UK from China on 11 January 2020. At the airport in China, he was retained and questioned by Chinese airport security for fifty minutes. On arrival in the UK, he became aware of rumours that the Chinese authorities had arrested Yemenis who had attended the conference. The Appellant’s residency permit in China expired on 20 July 2020. On 25 January 2020, the Chinese intelligence and police service visited the Appellant’s father at his place of work. He was physically and verbally assaulted during an interrogation and asked to surrender his Yemeni passport. The Appellant’s father was informed that he had organised a conference which had not been approved by the Chinese authorities. The Appellant’s father has since been interviewed on several occasions, and he is required to attend the local police station on a weekly basis. On 6 February 2020, the Appellant made an application for asylum and humanitarian protection in the United Kingdom. The basis of his application was that he feared the Houthi rebels and the conflict in Yemen and the Chinese authorities in China. On 25 November 2020, the Respondent refused the application on the basis that although there was a real risk of the Appellant suffering serious harm in Yemen, he could return to China. On 8 December 2020, the Appellant appealed against the Respondent’s decision. The Appellant claimed asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention and by implication humanitarian protection under the EU Council Directive 2004/83/EC on the minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals as incorporated in the Refugee or Person in Need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006. On 19 July 2021, the First-tier Tribunal dismissed the Appellant's appeal on asylum grounds, allowed his appeal on humanitarian protection grounds with regard to Yemen, but dismissed the appeal on humanitarian protection and human rights grounds with regard to China. On 28 July 2022, the Upper Tribunal found no material error in the decision of the First-tier Tribunal and dismissed the appeal. On 6 June 2025, the Court of Appeal dismissed the Appellant's appeal. The Appellant now seeks to appeal to the Supreme Court.