Migrant avoids deportation over right to life with estranged son

An illegal Albanian migrant avoided deportation after claiming that it would breach his rights to a family life with his estranged son.

Astrit Kurtaj initially came to Britain with his partner and two sons using a false name after failing to secure asylum in Belgium in 2000. After being caught and deported twice, he re-entered the UK illegally for a third time in 2011.

He made a series of successful appeals to remain on the basis that his removal would breach his right to a family life with his sons under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Despite him having made a false asylum claim using a fake name, a lower-tier judge granted his appeal against his deportation by the Home Office.

An upper tribunal has now rejected that decision not only because he no longer “enjoys a family life with his sons” but also that the lower-tier judge failed to take sufficient account of Kurtaj’s “poor” immigration history.

The case will now be reheard by a new lower-tier tribunal. Disclosed in court papers, it is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph in which illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have used human rights laws to remain in the UK or halt their deportations.

They include an Albanian criminal who avoided deportation after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets and a Pakistani paedophile who was jailed for child sex offences but escaped removal from the UK as it would be “unduly harsh” on his own children.

There are a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, largely on human rights grounds, which threaten to hamper Labour’s efforts to fast-track removal of illegal migrants.

Kurtaj had first arrived in Britain using a false name in order to avoid removal to Belgium, where he had previously claimed asylum using his true identity. His claim was refused and he was removed from the UK in 2004. He returned illegally, only to be arrested and deported in 2008.

He attempted to secure legal re-entry but was refused and returned to Britain illegally for a third time in late 2011. He applied for leave to remain in 2014, was refused and then won the right to stay on appeal in 2016 on the grounds that it would be a breach of his right to a family life if he was removed again.

Kurtaj was granted leave to remain when his status was reviewed in 2019, but was refused by the Home Office when he applied again in 2022. He appealed that decision and won after a first-tier immigration tribunal judge accepted Kurtaj’s 2019 claim that he needed to remain with his family in the UK