Raise Money For Hans's Asylum Appeal

Introduction

Hans' application for asylum in the UK has been rejected, he has 14 days to form an appeal for the decision, he will be deported from the UK to Azerbaijan if the appeal doesn't go his way which can have serious implications for his own safety. As of now Hans is on immigration bail for about 6-12 months so as long as the appeal is being decided, which currently prevents Hans from working and studying.

We are currently raising Money to assist Hans in his battle against the Home Office’s unjust decision to initially reject him from seeking Asylum in the UK. As Hans is currently barred from working it has become tremendously difficult for him to now save up the funds to help fight this ongoing legal battle. This GofundMe aims to support Hans and alleviate the financial burden of fighting to gain his status as an asylum seeker.

Hans and his Story

Hans is a 23 Year old Student from Azerbaijan, who came to the University of Leeds to study International relations in 2018 and enjoyed his first year like many other university students. By Dec 2019 repressive laws were passed within Azerbaijan to allow it to exercise more control over its citizens both abroad and domestically. Hans Father was being threatened & harassed by the Azeri Govt for political and tax related reasons and soon these threats extended onto Hans himself as he was starting to study abroad, This, in turn, became a serious implication for harm, leading Hans to apply to seek asylum in 2020. This decision will allow him not only can he carry on his education at the university & earn a stable living to send back to his Mother and Sister in Azerbaijan (which he is denied from doing), but to also start a new life in a country that he feels like he belongs in and has values which speak to his character. Hans is a Skater, Poet, Liverpool and Sci-Fi Fan and above all a friend. Within the social circles he is in he is a pivotal member, valued and loved by his friends for being a safe person to seek advice or comfort from whilst also providing intelligent and original opinions to discussions.

How Hans Case has been mishandled

Hans' case has been grossly mishandled by the Home office and the lawyers he had hired have failed at properly representing his case for being awarded asylum. The home office's original rejection letter, it is littered with contradictory statements regarding Hans’s statements and behaviour. This does not align with proper contextual developments regarding Azerbaijan, as well as the evidence used within the initial asylum application. This has been exacerbated by the misrepresentation of Hans’s case by the lawyers he had hired, who had failed to properly translate and present a strong case towards the home office. The lack of scrutiny from both the lawyers and the Home office has led to a decision which could have had serious implications for the safety of Hans and his family still in Azerbaijan if it was not for the donations we have received which has allowed Hans to remain in the UK for now.

The impact of the rejection

As aforementioned, for the 6-12 months Hans is on immigration bail he has been denied the ability to both work and study. Understandably, this has had a major disruption to the everyday routine of Hans life, to the extent that we are arguing that the conditions of immigration bail are currently infringing on his own fundamental rights to have a private life. After living here for a good 5 years and making many friends whilst at university these restrictions will have impact in both the short term (inability to go to campus and interact with friends, inability to work to support himself) as well as in the long term (unable to finish his degree which will affect his private life in the future). As such, alongside the go fund me we are also creating an open community letter which is arguing for these restrictions to be lifted whilst Hans waits on his appeal. We would appreciate any possible signatures to the letter linked here, which will be sent to the MP’s Hilary Benn and Alex Sobel.

How the funds will be used

The following are the funding milestones we seek to achieve with the Go Fund me.

1) Raise a total 200 Pounds to actually appeal the Asylum rejection.

2) Raise a new total of 500 pounds to cover the cost of 1 hour of quality legal consultation (About 250/300£/per hour).

3) Raise a new total of 800 pounds to cover the cost of an additional hour of quality legal consultation.

4) Raise a new total of 1600 pounds to cover the translation of Azeri documents to be used as valid evidence in court (rough estimate).

All additional funds will go to help Hans with living whilst being unable to work. These are the main milestones we seek to achieve with the Go-Fund Me, any updates to the case will be posted within the announcements section of this go-fund me.

Thank you for taking the time to read our campaign.

Ultraviolet Team