Pakistani asylum seeker wins £100,000 payout from UK home office for unlawful detention
A Pakistani asylum seeker has been awarded nearly £100,000 (Rs 1,08,77,180) in compensation by the UK Home Office after alleging she was "treated like a criminal" for overstaying in Britain. Nadra Almas, who arrived in the UK on a student visa in 2004, claimed she could not return to Pakistan due to fears of persecution for her Christian faith.
In 2018, Home Office officials detained and handcuffed Almas, informing her she would be deported. However, she was released two weeks later. Despite her freedom, she was barred from working or receiving government benefits for over three years before finally securing refugee status in 2021.
Almas took legal action against the Home Office for unlawful detention and won her case. The court heard that she had informed officials of the risks she would face as a Christian in Pakistan and her desire to remain with her adult son, who had been granted refugee status weeks earlier.
During the nearly three-year wait for her asylum decision, Almas was subjected to restrictions that, she argued, severely impacted her life and violated her rights under the Human Rights Act. The court acknowledged her suffering, stating that she had been unable to travel, work, or freely engage in her personal and family life due to the uncertainty of her status.
The court also heard details of her detention, where she was allegedly handcuffed and confined in a room with two unknown men before being told she would be deported. Following the ruling that her treatment breached her human rights, she was awarded £98,757.04 in damages.
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17,969 acres Wakf property encroached in Karnataka, mostly by Muslims: Minister Khan
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Wakf & Minority Welfare B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that 17,969 acres of Wakf property have been encroached upon in the state, mostly by Muslims themselves.
The minister was responding to a question by Afzalpur Congress MLA M Y Patil during the Question Hour.
"Total Wakf property across the state is 1,12,860 acres, out of which only 20,054 acres is in our hands. As many as 17,969 acres have been encroached, 47,263 acres have gone under the Inam Abolition Act and 23,627 acres have gone under the Land Reforms Act," Khan said.
He said that after the Congress government came to power and he became the department's minister, Wakf Adalats were held across the state aimed at removing encroachments.
Noting that 1,12,860 acres of Wakf land were given not by the government, but by private individuals and organisations for the welfare of the community, the minister said encroachments on Wakf property are mostly by the Muslim community itself, not by temples or other communities.
"Encroachments on Wakf land are not by others, they are done by Muslims themselves. Wakf Adalats were held to remove those encroachments, but the BJP made it an issue," he said, adding that encroachment issues are being resolved.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka intervened and said the BJP's objections were not about removing encroachments by Muslims on Wakf land, but about farmers' land, land belonging to schools such as the one studied by Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, and in some cases land belonging to temples, among others, being claimed as Wakf land.
The BJP is in fact in favour of an investigation into the encroachment of Wakf properties, he said.
Responding to this, the minister clarified that the government is not laying hands on any temples or educational institutions by claiming them as Wakf property.
"To identify encroachments by private people, mostly Muslims, Wakf Adalats were held," he added.
