A Palestinian citizen of Israel has been granted asylum in the UK on the basis of a “well-founded fear of persecution” despite numerous attempts from the Home Office to turn it down.
Hasan (not his real name) is believed to be the first Palestinian with an Israeli passport to be given refugee status in the UK. The 26 year old claimed he faced persecution in Israel because he is a Palestinian Muslim who took part in pro-Palestine demonstrations in the UK.
He was first granted asylum on March 11, 2024, a day before a tribunal was set to hear his legal challenge against an initial Home Office decision to reject his application. He was told he would need to go through security checks before his refugee status could be confirmed.
But once those security checks were complete, the decision to grant asylum was withdrawn.
Hasan then sought a judicial review, which ruled in his favour last July. The Home Office twice tried to appeal the decision, but its requests were refused and it was ultimately ordered in December to grant Hasan the paperwork confirming his application had been successful.
He received this on December 23, with the Home Office stating he had a “well-founded fear of persecution and therefore cannot return to … Israel”, and granting him refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Court documents released during the judicial review show that the then-home secretary James Cleverly had intervened on March 13, 2024, asking Home Office officials to have the decision to grant Hasan asylum reversed, said Hasan’s lawyers Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
According to those documents, Mr Cleverly sought “urgent advice on options of what next”, with a specific request for advice on “the option to withdraw and revoke the asylum claim”.
But subsequent appeals by the Home Office against the judicial review in July 2025 came when the department was led by Labour ministers.
Hassan said his seven-year battle for refugee status had been “cruel”, depriving him of the ability to work and study.
“I was a baby when I came to the UK and I’ve lived here all my life – but the Home Office’s cruel actions have kept me in precarity for decades, while friends and family build their careers, relationships and lives,” he said.
“I claimed asylum nearly seven years ago and all that time I’ve been denied the right to work, study or rent. I’ve also been living under the threat of removal from my community and home to Israel, a genocidal, apartheid regime that persecutes Palestinians. The British government can no longer deny this.”
Taher Gulamhussein, Hasan’s solicitor, said Home Office attempts to block Hasan’s claim were an example of “wasted public money”.
“On March 11, 2024 three Home Office decision-makers decided that there was only ‘one conclusion’ – that Hasan was a refugee and reasonably likely to face persecution by Israel," he said.
“Despite several senior officials agreeing that Hasan should be given paperwork confirming the same, three home secretaries, both Tory and Labour, and their Home Office, have wasted public money in trying to deny they accepted he is a refugee, and absurdly arguing that these officials were unauthorised, irrational and clearly wrong. We are pleased that Hasan can finally get on with his life in safety.”
The Home Office and Mr Cleverly have been approached for comment.
