THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT AND ILLEGAL ALIENS

There has been various cases of late regarding asylum seekers, criminals  and illegal aliens avoiding deportation by citing their rights under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.

One such case was that of convicted criminal Klevis Disha, an illegal immigrant, who was allowed to stay in Britain because it would be “unduly harsh” for his 10-year-old son not to be able to get chicken nuggets in Albania and would thus infringe his rights under Article 8, the right to a family life.

Another is that of a woman, repeatedly refused asylum who, citing her right to family life, in that she would be at risk of persecution if she returned to Nigeria, even though the tribunal judge acknowledged that she was lying, was given leave to remain in the UK.

For those unsure as exactly what this much-misused Article 8 says I quote:

RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Note my underlining - Article 8 is NOT an absolute right but a qualified one and can be disregarded in the interests of public safety, like allowing a convicted criminal to stay in the UK, despite his son's love of chicken nuggets, or a lying Nigerian member of a terrorist organisation to also stay here.

The fact is, appeal tribunal judges are treating Article 8 as an absolute right, so either they are ignorant of the law, in which case they should not be on appeals tribunal in the first place, or they are, for personal political reasons, deliberately misusing the law, in which case they should be in prison.