Overview

• In July 2025 the Upper Tribunal overturned a 2023 deportation order and reinstated MS’s refugee status after finding he would face mockery, harassment, discrimination and violence if returned to Algeria.
• Judge Christopher Hanson ruled that a first-tier tribunal erred by ignoring the protected characteristic on which MS’s asylum was based.
• MS, who gained refugee status in 2013, has multiple UK convictions for offences including burglary, theft, battery and robbery.
• A country expert told the tribunal that Algerian law criminalises homosexual acts and that openly transgender individuals face social hostility, physical harm and familial threats.
• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is preparing legislation to limit human rights appeals by foreign criminals and sex offenders in order to bolster deportation powers.