“…inexhaustibly we consider to be material in giving rise to potential suspicion in the minds of the authorities concerning a particular claimant.”
“We cannot emphasise too strongly the importance of avoiding treating these factors as some kind of checklist. Assessment of the claim must be in the round bearing in mind the matters set out above as a consequence of a careful scrutiny and assessment of the evidence. The central issue as always is the question of the real risk on return of ill treatment amounting to persecution or breach of a person’s Article 3 rights. The existing political and human rights context overall is also a matter of significance as will be seen from our assessment of the particular appeals in our determinations of those below. The particular circumstances that prevail today may not be in existence in 6 months time for all we know.”
“There is no dispute that some information about individuals who have come to the adverse attention of the authorities is kept by a variety of organisations in Turkey, which include systems such as the GBTS, border control information, Nufus and judicial records to which we have already referred. There are also records on individuals kept in local police and Jandarma stations and by the local Mukhtar. This information would appear to be in part on computer and part in documentary form. We also accept that MIT and the anti-terrorist police would have and be able to access a further computerised system or systems that common sense suggests would include information about individuals of actual potential concern to them. It will comprise information generated by themselves and their own activities and possibly information collected from other available information systems.”
“On this basis, we consider that the starting point in any inquiry into risk on return should normally begin, not with the airport on return but with whether the claimant would be at any real risk of persecution or a breach of Article 3 in his home area as a consequence of his material history there. If the answer to that is ‘no’, then the claim cannot normally succeed, unless of course the risk arises from or is aggravated by other factors, such as his material activities abroad in other parts of Turkey. Any real risk would arise only from a person’s material history, to borrow Mr Grieves’ expression, and this history will in most normal circumstances be at its most extensive in the individual’s home area...”
“After this period of detention the Appellant was detained on numerous occasions but not held for lengthy periods of time -- each time he would be asked about his father’s whereabouts but he could give no information. The last time he was detained was on3rd July 2002 and on that occasion he believed that his treatment was worse than before -- he was threatened with death and following his release he and his wife decided the time had come for them to leave Turkey in order to preserve their safety.”
“We agree (and the appellant does not deny) that he was only involved in the PSK at the very lowest level but we do not share the view that this would prevent the authorities in Turkey from detaining and questioning him if they were suspicious of the activities.”
“The Secretary of State’s representative did not accept that the authorities would have continuously harassed the Appellant for any reason arising out of his father’s disappearance in December 2001. However, by the Appellant’s own account after the events complained of between 1996 and 1998 there do not appear to have been any further incidents until February 2002 which lead us to the conclusion that at that time the Appellant was of no interest to the authorities.”
“[He] laid great emphasis throughout on the fact that whenever he had been detained he was asked about his father’s whereabouts and what the Appellant knew about his activities on behalf of PSK.”
“Therefore to summarise our finding at this stage we find that the Appellant’s essential account of events in Turkey are likely to be true to the low standard required. We find that he had suffered various episodes of detention and harassment at the hands of the authorities in his home area and that all of this was due to the relationship with his father as the authorities wished to have information about the father’s activities on behalf of the PSK. We are therefore satisfied that based on the extent of the harassment extending over several years the Appellant did experience persecutory behaviour at the hands of the authorities in Turkey.”
“…it appears to us that as the father’s death has been officially recorded and based upon the findings we have made in accordance with the evidence we have heard we have concluded that the authorities in Turkey can no longer have any interest in the Appellant. We accept that it is possible that he and his family may continue to experience less favourable treatment because of their ethnicity and religious persuasion but again we conclude that that in itself does not amount to persecution and does not add to the risk on return. These matters are risk factors which have to be borne in mind when assessing the totality of risk on return to Turkey.”
“We have noted the efforts made by the Turkish government to improve their previously very poor record on the human rights particularly with regard to torture and accept that in certain situations torture continues and that there may be a real risk of ill-treatment in the course of questioning on return to Turkey particularly of those suspected by the authorities of involvement in left-wing or separatist groups. We find that there are two aspects of the evidence which are important here -- the first being whether the Appellant would be likely to appear on the GBTS system but we are satisfied that in accordance with the findings of the Tribunal in IK that the system does not include details of detentions by the security forces which did not result in some form of court intervention. We are satisfied and the Appellant states that he and his wife have never been formally charged -- that on each and every occasion they have been detained they have been released without charge and it has been clear that there has been no substantive evidence against them.”
“70. We have given careful consideration to the question of how, if at all, the Appellant would claim to demonstrate that he is likely to be of any interest to the authorities in Turkey but based on the evidence we have concluded there is no evidence that the authorities will be looking for the Appellant if he is returned. 71. For the sake of completeness we have taken account of the submissions which were made on behalf of the Appellant about relocation -- we accept a person in the Appellant’s position (with a dependant wife and children) could not behave as a young single man and it would be necessary for him to register with the local Mukhtar even if he chose not to return to his local area. But on the basis that we cannot be satisfied based upon our careful examination of the evidence that the Appellant has anything specifically to fear from the authorities arising out of past events we do not take that into account as a further risk factor.”
“some significant reduction of reported incidents as the Government’s policies begin to bite”
“We do not find that the fact that the Appellant and his wife ran away from the police when they arrived at Dover to be of great significance -- when assessing his credibility -- the Appellant explained that he was fearful that the police were about to return him immediately to Turkey and in all the circumstances of his arrival in a foreign country and not knowing what to expect we find that a reasonable explanation. We similarly do not hold it against the Appellant when assessing his credibility that he failed to claim asylum in another country on route from Turkey to the United Kingdom.”