A Bangladeshi national, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been granted permission to appeal against his deportation from the UK on political grounds.

The asylum seeker, referred in UK court documents only as ‘A’, claims he would be killed for his political beliefs as a member of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and he faces risk from the ruling Awami League. He reportedly left Bangladesh in 2012 on a student visa for the UK and stayed on even once his visa expired, ultimately being arrested in August 2017 in Jersey – the largest of the Channel Islands, which function as a self-governing dependency of the UK.

“His asylum application was based on his having been a member of the Bangladesh National Party, which was and is in opposition to the Awami League, who are currently in power in Bangladesh,” Jersey’s Deputy Bailiff Tim Le Cocq notes in court documents.

He adds: “The applicant alleges that Awami has victimised those who oppose it, including members of the BNP, and that the security services in Bangladesh are complicit in such victimisation, which extends to the murder of political opponents.

“The applicant states that he had attended two demonstrations organised by the BNP in 2007 and 2008 at which there had been violence and following which he, together with others, had been falsely charged with offences.”

According to local media reports from Jersey, his legal team is arguing that by refusing his asylum application and returning him to Bangladesh, Jersey would be in breach of the Geneva Convention on Human Rights, which protects a person’s right to life and liberty.

Under Jersey’s immigration rules, an asylum seeker can be granted refugee status in Jersey if the Home Affairs Minister believes that "refusing his application would result in the applicant being required to go in breach of the Geneva Convention, to a country in which his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group".

A's asylum request was initially rejected by former Assistant Home Affairs Minister Deidre Mezbourian in January 2018 before being rejected again by Home Affairs Minister Len Norman in August last year. However, the Royal Court of Jersey has now granted him leave to appeal against that decision.