Internal relocation can be an important issue in an asylum appeal where the alleged risk is connected to a particular area, community, organisation or individual within the claimant's country of origin.
For legal representatives, the issue is not simply whether another part of the country exists. Depending on the circumstances, the assessment may involve conditions in the proposed area, the nature of the alleged risk there, access to relevant protection, and the claimant's individual circumstances.
A country expert might be able to provide focused evidence on relevant country conditions and explain how those conditions may relate to a particular relocation proposal. The expert's role is not to determine whether an appeal should succeed or to provide a legal conclusion on the asylum claim.
What Is Internal Relocation?
Internal relocation generally concerns whether a person who faces a risk in one part of their country could reasonably live elsewhere in that country without facing the relevant persecution or serious harm.
Paragraph 339O of the Immigration Rules requires consideration of the general circumstances prevailing in the proposed area and the person's personal circumstances. The assessment is therefore dependent on the facts and evidence of the individual case.
The existence of another city, region or area does not by itself establish that relocation would be a viable option for a particular claimant.
Where Country Expert Evidence May Be Relevant
A country expert may assist where specialist knowledge is required to understand conditions in the proposed area of relocation.
Depending on the issues in the case and the expert's area of expertise, relevant matters may include:
- Conditions in the proposed relocation area
- Regional differences within the country
- Treatment of particular ethnic, religious, political, social or other groups
- The presence or influence of relevant non-state actors
- Access to state protection where this falls within the expert's expertise
- Linguistic, cultural or social factors relevant to the proposed relocation
- Availability or accessibility of relevant family, community or civil-society support
- Practical conditions relevant to accommodation, employment or essential services where reliable country evidence permits an informed assessment
The scope should be based on the actual evidential issues in dispute. A country expert report does not necessarily need to address every aspect of internal relocation.
Linking Country Evidence to the Proposed Relocation Area
A useful country expert report should be focused on the issue being considered.
For example, a report may need to distinguish between conditions in the claimant's home area and those in the specific area proposed as an alternative. General statements about the country as a whole may not adequately address a question concerning a particular city, province or region.
Depending on the instruction, questions may include:
- What are the relevant conditions in the proposed relocation area?
- Does the alleged risk actor have a presence or effective reach in that area?
- Are there significant regional differences relevant to the claimed risk?
- Are there particular barriers affecting the claimant's relevant group?
- What country evidence is available concerning access to protection?
- Are there relevant linguistic, cultural or social factors that may affect settlement?
- What support structures may realistically be available to someone with the claimant's circumstances?
These are examples rather than a standard list of questions. The instruction should reflect the issues that actually require specialist country evidence.
The Importance of the Claimant's Individual Circumstances
Country evidence cannot normally be considered entirely separately from the claimant's circumstances.
Relevant considerations may include family or other ties, childcare responsibilities, health, access to services, employment opportunities, language, cultural factors and the availability of practical support.
The significance of these factors will vary between cases. A country expert may need appropriate factual information about the claimant where that information is relevant to questions within the expert's expertise.
For example, the relevance of a proposed relocation option may differ depending on whether the claimant has family connections in the proposed location, speaks the relevant language, has particular support needs, belongs to a group facing specific barriers, or has other circumstances that materially affect the country-specific assessment.
The expert should distinguish between facts supplied in the instructions, information obtained from appropriate sources, and conclusions supported by the available country evidence.
Considering Access to the Proposed Area
The assessment of internal relocation may also involve the practical circumstances of reaching and living in the proposed location.
Where relevant and within the expert's expertise, country evidence may assist with understanding matters such as:
- Transport links and accessibility
- Regional security conditions
- Checkpoints or other restrictions
- Documentation requirements
- Restrictions affecting particular groups
- Practical barriers relevant to establishing oneself in the proposed area
The report should avoid unsupported assumptions about the claimant's ability to travel or settle. Where reliable information is unavailable or the evidence is uncertain, the expert should identify that limitation.
State Protection and Internal Relocation
State protection and internal relocation can sometimes overlap, particularly where the alleged risk comes from a non-state actor.
Country evidence may help explain whether relevant authorities operate effectively in the proposed area and whether people in the claimant's circumstances may be able to access available mechanisms of protection.
However, the expert should remain within their expertise. A report should provide objective country evidence and analysis rather than determine whether the legal requirements for refugee status or humanitarian protection have been met.
The Tribunal remains responsible for applying the relevant legal framework to the evidence before it.
CPINs and Other Country Information
Country Policy and Information Notes may contain information relevant to internal relocation. Other authoritative country material may also address conditions in particular regions or affecting particular groups.
A country expert report should therefore be carefully scoped in light of the evidence already available.
The purpose is not necessarily to provide another general overview of the country. A more focused report may be appropriate where there is a particular evidential question requiring specialist country knowledge.
For example, the relevant issue might concern a specific region, a particular social group, the reach of an alleged actor, or conditions that are not adequately addressed by the existing material.
Where the available country information does not support a reliable conclusion, the expert should identify the limitation rather than fill the gap through speculation.
Questions to Consider When Instructing a Country Expert
Before commissioning a report, legal representatives may wish to identify precisely what remains disputed.
What Is the Proposed Relocation Area?
The instruction should identify the proposed location wherever possible. A broad request for an assessment of "internal relocation" may produce less focused evidence than a question concerning a particular region or city.
What Risk Is Being Considered?
The expert should understand the nature of the alleged risk and the actor said to be responsible, while avoiding questions that require the expert to determine legal issues outside their expertise.
What Country-Specific Issue Requires Specialist Evidence?
The instruction should identify the evidential gap. This could concern regional conditions, the reach of an actor, treatment of a particular group or practical conditions relevant to relocation.
What Information About the Claimant Is Material?
Only information relevant to the expert's questions should be provided. Material personal circumstances may be important where they affect the country-specific analysis.
What Evidence Is Already Available?
Relevant CPINs, country material, previous reports and other documents can help the expert understand what evidence has already been considered and where focused expert analysis may be required.
Keeping the Expert Report Focused
A country expert report does not need to answer every issue arising in an asylum appeal.
The expert's role is to assist the Tribunal on matters within their expertise. Expert evidence should remain independent and objective, and an expert should identify matters outside their expertise or circumstances in which a reliable opinion cannot be reached.
A focused instruction can therefore help distinguish between:
- Matters requiring specialist country evidence
- Matters addressed by existing country information
- Matters that depend primarily on the claimant's evidence
- Legal questions that remain for the Tribunal
This can help avoid unnecessary duplication and keep the evidence proportionate to the issues genuinely in dispute.
Why Case-Specific Country Evidence Can Matter
Internal relocation assessments can involve a combination of general country conditions and individual circumstances.
A country expert may assist where specialist evidence is required to understand a particular aspect of those conditions. The usefulness of the report will depend on the relevance of the questions, the expert's expertise, the quality of the available sources and the limits of the evidence.
There is no automatic requirement for expert evidence in every case involving internal relocation. The need for such evidence should be considered according to the issues arising in the particular appeal.
Working With a Legal Aid Expert Witness
For legally aided cases, it is useful to establish the purpose and scope of the proposed expert work before instruction.
A clear instruction can help the expert identify the questions that genuinely require specialist country knowledge and avoid work that duplicates material already available to the legal representative.
Where funding or prior authority is relevant, the proposed work and its purpose should be clearly explained in accordance with the applicable Legal Aid Agency requirements.
Country Condition Reports from Legal Aid Expert Witness are described as LAA-compliant country of origin information reports for asylum and immigration appeals before the First-tier and Upper Tribunals.
The provider's Legal Aid Compliance information explains its approach to defining report scope and supporting LAA funding applications.
Legal representatives can also submit a brief with relevant case particulars, funding information and the tribunal deadline when seeking a proposed scope of work.
Conclusion
Internal relocation is a fact-sensitive issue. The question is not simply whether another part of a country exists, but whether the proposed location and the claimant's circumstances can properly be assessed against the applicable legal framework.
Country expert evidence may assist by providing focused, objective analysis of relevant country conditions, regional differences, access to protection and other matters within the expert's expertise.
The most useful approach is generally to identify the precise evidential issue first and then instruct the expert to address that issue using appropriate and sufficiently current country information. This can help keep the report focused, avoid unnecessary duplication and allow the Tribunal to consider the expert evidence alongside the other evidence in the case.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information about the potential role of country expert evidence in asylum cases. It is not legal advice and should not be treated as a substitute for the applicable legislation, Immigration Rules, case law, procedural guidance or case-specific legal advice.