A foreign judge called Parminder Saini has decided the risk of a man having to shave his beard if returned home needs to be given more consideration in his asylum application:
>Migrant can stay in UK because he does not want to shave
>An asylum seeker from Tajikistan has been allowed to stay in the UK because he would have had to shave his beard off if he was deported.
>In Tajikistan, beards are unofficially banned by the government and hundreds of thousands of men have been arrested for having one in the last decade.
>Men in the country with beards are arrested, shaved against their will and have their fingerprints taken by police.
>It is part of a government campaign to try to prevent men from becoming radicalised and joining Islamic extremist terror groups.
>The Tajik man said he would shave off his beard if he was sent back but only because he would have “no option” as he would be at risk of persecution.
>Parminder Saini, the Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal, said: “The [First-tier Tribunal] judge has failed to assess whether the [Tajik man] is shaving off his beard because of “social pressures” or due to a “fear of being persecuted”.
>“We find that this represents inadequate and incomplete reasoning in relation to the key issue of why the [Tajik man] is willing to shave his beard on return to Tajikistan.
>“If he wears a beard out of religious conviction but will conform for reasons of securing his safety, he may be entitled to international protection.
>Judge Saini ruled that the previous decision was set aside and that his case must be heard again at the First-tier Tribunal.
Imagine even considering this argument.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06/25/migrant-can-stay-in-uk-because-he-does-not-want-to-shave/