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Miranda Butler represented ‘AB’, who worked alongside the UK government to further the UK’s mission in Afghanistan. When the Taliban took power in August 2021, AB and his family were forced into hiding given the harm they faced from the Taliban including receiving a number of direct threats.
After a near two-year wait for a decision on his application to relocate to the UK, AB was offered relocation under the UK’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) in September 2023. The ARAP scheme is designed to assist those who are now at risk of harm from the Taliban because of the work they did with the UK government before the collapse of the Afghan Republic. However, even after being offered relocation, AB continued to wait for months in hiding in Afghanistan for details of his relocation. AB also had no decision on whether his family members would be relocated with him, despite having made an application under the ARAP Additional Family Members route months earlier. In the meantime, the family continued to live in hiding at risk from the Taliban.
Judicial review proceedings were launched in June 2024 to challenge the UK government’s delays in relocating AB and his family. On 29 July 2024, Mrs Justice Lang DBE granted permission to bring judicial review proceedings in respect of the claim against the Secretary of State for Defence and the Secretary of State for Foreign Commonwealth and Development Affairs, observing that:
“There has already been a considerable delay in processing the applications. The tone and content of the summary grounds of defence demonstrates a worrying lack of concern about the delay, and the safety of the claimant and his family.”
The case was scheduled to proceed to a full hearing on an expedited basis. However, after the judge’s decision, the UK government finally took steps to secure AB client and his family’s relocation, including offering relocation to his elderly mother, adult children and grandchildren. The family of fourteen are now safely in the UK, and finally able to take steps towards rebuilding their lives.
AB was represented in the court proceedings by Miranda Butler. She was instructed by Amy O’Shea, Lily Seaborne and Alice Hardy of Bindmans LLP and was led by Naina Patel KC of Blackstone Chambers.
