Successful Namibian Asylum Claim

Successful asylum claim for a particularly vulnerable Namibian bisexual appellant who had been the victim of enforced domestic servitude and sexual assault, who was fluent only in Otjiherero, which the Home Office could not source interpretation services for.

A bisexual Namibian woman from a remote village near the Botswanan border, who is only fluent in Otjiherero, the language of her tribe, recounted the horrific abuse she received from an early age.

From being forced to live in a concrete shed in the yard, sleeping on the floor, essentially as a domestic slave, to the physical and sexual assault she endured for several years, orchestrated by their stepmother, resulting in the birth of two children and contracting HIV.

She was then forced into marriage to a local alcoholic widower, who was 20 years older than her, which resulted in the birth of a third child. Her husband subsequently died from an alcohol-related condition.

The abuse was reported to the Tribal Authority, who said they could not get involved.

Eventually she made her way to the UK, leaving her 3 children in Namibia with a friend, and claimed asylum on arrival, on Christmas Day 2018.  When she made her claim, she made it clear that she could not express herself in English and asked for an Otjiherero interpreter.  This was refused, on the basis that they did not have one.

The screening interview took place in English.   She was then referred to a solicitor, who attempted to take instructions from her, again in English on the basis that they could not find an Otjiherero interpreter.

The statement was sent to the Home Office unsigned, and with a disclaimer that they could not guarantee its accuracy.  Several years later she underwent an asylum interview.  Again, she asked for an Otjiherero interpreter, which was again refused, on the basis that they did not have one. Her claim was refused as lacking in credibility. Her solicitor said they could no longer represent her.

Rudolph was then instructed by her new representatives, Bristol Law Centre, who found an Otjiherero interpreter, in Wrexham.

Rudolph travelled from London to the solicitor’s office in Bristol, spent hours assessing her evidence with her to draw up a detailed witness statement and then argued in written and oral submissions that the asserted inconsistencies in her previous accounts were not an indicator of an unmeritorious claim, but resulted from a combination of PTSD and statements taken without the benefit of an interpreter.

At the hearing, the FTJ agreed.  From claiming asylum in the UK to the asylum appeal the process took almost 6 years, during which her oldest child reached adulthood and left home.