A Islamist terror suspect questioned over the 2019 bombings in Sri Lanka is reportedly seeking asylum in the UK, according to British media reports.
The unnamed Sri Lankan man, who has been granted anonymity, was detained over allegations he was involved in the Easter bombings which killed 269 people including six Brits.
He was arrested in 2022 but released on bail before he left his home country and travelled to the UK the same year to claim asylum, the Telegraph reports.
It is understood that he denies the allegations. Seeking asylum, he told an immigration panel that police attended his family home and he feared persecution if he returned.
The 2019 attacks were carried out on Easter Sunday as congregations gathered for services. Eight blasts, triggered by suicide bombers, hit a series of churches as well as luxury hotels and homes across Sri Lanka.
Britons Anita Nicholson, 42, and her children, Alexander, 14 and Annabel, 11, were amongst those who died in an explosion at the Shangri-la Hotel in Colombo.
The asylum claim for the man and his wife was initially rejected by the Home Office, but the unnamed man was successful in an appeal against the decision at an upper immigration tribunal. His case will now be reheard.
An upper tribunal judgment said: “[The Sri Lankan] had applied for protection on his own behalf and on behalf of his wife.
“He says that on Jan 5 2022 he was arrested and questioned in connection with the Easter bombings, which took place in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019.
“He says that he was released only on the payment of a substantial bribe and was subject to reporting conditions. He left Sri Lanka for the United Kingdom on Sept 2 2022 and an arrest warrant was issued thereafter on Sept 15 2022.
“He says that the police have attended his family home in Sri Lanka, and he fears persecution if returned to Sri Lanka.”
The migrant argued that the first-tier tribunal made mistakes and that the judge was “biased,” and that the “arrest warrant was not issued until after he left Sri Lanka, which the judge failed to appreciate.”
Claire Burns, the deputy upper tribunal judge, found that the previous hearing had made a series of errors, including it being missed that the man had been released on bail following an arrest warrant.
Last week, the British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced major reforms to the asylum system which included making refugee status temporary and giving ministers powers to return migrants to their home country once it was deemed safe.
The facts of the man’s case will be reheard at the first-tier tribunal at a later date.
Source: The Standered
--Agencies
