UI2024001450

Pursuant to rule 14 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008, the appellant is granted anonymity. No-one shall publish or reveal any information, including the name or address of the appellant, likely to lead members of the public to identify the appellant. Failure to comply with this order could amount to a contempt of court.

              These written reasons reflect the full oral decision which we gave to the parties on the issue of whether the First-tier Tribunal erred in law. We reserved our decision on remaking.

              The appellant challenged the decision of Judge French of the First-tier Tribunal, following a hearing on 1 st March 2024. The respondent had refused the appellant's claim for refugee status but had granted him humanitarian protection, given the general conditions in Sudan, the appellant's country of origin. The appellant appealed the refusal of refugee status in what is sometimes called an 'upgrade appeal.'

              The Judge's findings and conclusions were brief. At §§10(1) and (2), the Judge concluded that the appellant was not a credible witness and did not accept that the appellant had a pregnant girlfriend in Sudan; or that he had been threatened as a result; or that he was a member of a particular social group as a consequence. However, the Judge reiterated that in any event, the appellant no longer claimed that he was a member of a particular social group. At §10(3), the Judge stated:

"I accept the submission made by the Respondent that the situation for non-Arab Darfuris in Khartoum had improved as indicated in the CPIN dated 2/10/21. The Appellant's advocate had the opinion that that CPIN was 'obsolete' because there had been subsequent civil unrest in Sudan. However I do not share that opinion".