MP v Secretary of State for the Home Department (reference for preliminary ruling), C‑353/16

The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling MP is a national of Sri Lanka who arrived in the United Kingdom in January 2005 and was given leave to remain as a student until 30 September 2008. On 5 January 2009, MP lodged an application for asylum on the ground, in essence, that he had been detained and tortured by the Sri Lankan security forces because he had been a member of the ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’, and, that if he returned to Sri Lanka, he would be at risk of further ill-treatment for the same reason. By decision of 23 February 2009, that application was rejected by the competent national authority, which did not accept that MP would be still of interest to the Sri Lankan authorities or at risk of further ill-treatment if he returned to his country. MP brought an action against that decision before the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). Medical evidence was submitted to that court that the applicant was suffering the after- effects of torture, severe post-traumatic stress disorder and serious depression, showed marked suicidal tendencies, and appeared to be particularly determined to kill himself if he had to return to Sri Lanka.