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New research demonstrates that errors by Home Office asylum caseworkers in their handling of expert medical evidence of torture can make it almost impossible for survivors of torture seeking asylum in the UK to prove that they were tortured. The consequences can be devastating for the individuals concerned, and can also place additional burdens on public services and funds.
A recent study suggests that 27% of adult forced migrants living in high-income countries like the UK are survivors of torture.1 Many have complex physical, psychological, social and legal needs arising from their torture and from their often prolonged and dangerous journey to safety, and yet survivors consistently tell us that securing legal status quickly through the asylum system is the most significant problem they face.
Medico-legal reports are a wellrecognised and accepted form of evidence commissioned by legal representatives on behalf of asylum claimants to assist decisionmakers in establishing key factual elements of an asylum claim. They are a vital form of evidence for survivors of torture who may have little else available to prove the fact of their torture and, for reasons stemming from psychological trauma, may find it particularly difficult to give a coherent and comprehensive account of what has happened to them.
Freedom from Torture undertook a detailed analysis of how 50 expert medicolegal reports have been treated by asylum caseworkers in the UK Home Office.2 The results indicate that in such cases many Home Office decisions are poor and have to be corrected by judges. In 76% of cases in our research for which the final outcome is known, the person was granted asylum following a successful legal appeal. The average success rate for asylum appeals is 30%. In many of the cases we reviewed, the Immigration...