Today the United Kingdom Supreme Court provided final judgment on the cases of RT (Zimbabwe) and others and KM (Zimbabwe), ruling that individuals should be recognised as refugees if the only way they could ensure the protection of their own government would be to lie about their support for the ruling party.

In response, Donna Covey. The Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said:

“We welcome this important judgment, confirming that the right to political freedom includes the right not to support any particular political party. People should not have to lie about having or not having political beliefs as a way of avoiding persecution.

The UN Refugee Convention is in place to ensure that those of at risk of persecution in their country can get the protection they need, and we should be proud that the UK provides that protection without putting people’s freedoms and integrity at risk.”

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