LR v The Secretary of State for the Home Department

Country guidance for adult male victims of trafficking returning to Albania requires an individual assessment of vulnerability, reintegration support and the original traffickers’ organisation, threats, connections, interest and reach. The risk of re-trafficking cannot be quantified by a general percentage. Albania generally provides sufficient protection, but that will not be effective in every case; a person who needs shelter-level protection may be unable to obtain it. Internal relocation requires separate assessments of safety and reasonableness. A person who requires shelter to be safe at home is unlikely to be safe elsewhere, while a person still actively sought is unlikely to be safe outside the larger cities. Albanian male victims of trafficking form a particular social group, but persecution must have the required causal link to that membership.

LR, an Albanian national, was trafficked to the UK as a teenager after escaping his abusive father in Belgium. The Secretary of State accepted that he had experienced domestic violence and trafficking, but refused his protection claim on the basis that he could obtain sufficient protection in Albania. The First-tier Tribunal dismissed his international protection appeal but allowed it on Article 8 grounds, finding that he would face very significant obstacles to reintegration.

The international protection decision was set aside by agreement on appeal to the Upper Tribunal. The Upper Tribunal issued country guidance on adult male victims of trafficking in Albania, then heard updated evidence about LR’s circumstances. The central questions were whether he faced persecution on return, whether sufficient protection or internal relocation would be available, and whether any risk was for a Refugee Convention reason.

1. Appeal allowed. The panel remade the decision in the Upper Tribunal because the remaining issues were limited and there was no proper basis to remit them to the First-tier Tribunal. LR qualified as a refugee.
2. Risk and standard of proof. For claims under section 32 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, the statutory stages require different standards: specified matters are determined on the balance of probabilities, then prospective persecution, protection and internal relocation are assessed on a reasonable-likelihood basis. For an adult male victim of trafficking, risk may arise from the original traffickers by reprisal or re-trafficking, or from a different actor. It cannot be quantified by a general percentage. Past persecution or a threat of it is a serious indication of future harm unless there are good reasons to consider it will not be repeated, as provided by paragraph 339K of the Immigration Rules.
3. Individual assessment. Risk from original traffickers requires consideration of the person’s vulnerabilities and likely reintegration assistance, alongside what is known about the traffickers: their organisation and reach, threats and debt, connections to family or community, evidence the victim may hold, and the passage of time. Risk from a different actor depends on the person’s original risk profile and how it has changed. A previous victim’s awareness of deceptive recruitment is relevant but does not make him immune to later exploitation.
4. Protection and relocation. Albania generally provides sufficient protection for adult male victims of trafficking under the practical standard in Horvath v SSHD [2000] UKHL 37. Decision-makers must nevertheless assess whether the individual can access the additional protection his circumstances reasonably require. There is no ordinary shelter provision for adult male victims; NGO-supported rented accommodation is usually offered for six months, with longer help sometimes available. Internal relocation requires holistic safety and reasonableness assessments. A person needing shelter to be safe at home is unlikely to be safe elsewhere. Someone still actively sought is unlikely to be safe outside the larger cities; safety in those cities depends on the traffickers’ interest, reach and connections, as well as the person’s vulnerabilities.
5. Particular social group and LR’s circumstances. Under the pre-NABA regulations, the particular-social-group criteria are disjunctive. Under section 33 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, they are conjunctive. Albanian male victims of trafficking share a common background and are perceived as different by a substantial part of society, giving them a distinct identity. The Convention reason need only be an effective cause of feared persecution. LR’s traffickers had pursued and threatened his family, knew he had reported them to police and were likely to locate him. He required shelter-level security, which was unavailable; rented accommodation and police support would not protect him. He could not safely relocate, and the feared reprisal was linked to his status as a male victim of trafficking.

1. Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber): Set aside by agreement the First-tier Tribunal’s dismissal of the international protection appeal. After issuing country guidance and hearing updated evidence, remade the decision and allowed the appeal on Refugee Convention grounds.
2. First-tier Tribunal: Dismissed the international protection appeal and allowed the appeal on Article 8 grounds. No citation for the decision is stated in the judgment.