Question 1. Sunil Cooray is a citizen of Sri Lanka, he has recently made a claim for asylum in the United Kingdom on the grounds that he fears persecution from the Sri Lankan authorities. The basis of his claim is as follows. He arrived in the United Kingdom clandestinely in a lorry. He travelled through several European countries before finally arriving in the United Kingdom. Mr Cooray claims to have assisted the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) a banned organisation in that he is a full time combatant and an active campaigner. He was recruited at the age of 17. He comes from a family of four, all male and they have also been active in the LTTE. He was arrested with a group of fellow fighters in Colombo after they had carried out an attack on a government building which failed. He was detained and he claims that he was tortured and beaten. In one instance he claims that he was kept in a dark room for two days without any food. He was released by the authorities after the payment of a bribe by his father. He was not charged with any offence. After his release he realised that it was no longer safe for him to remain in the country. He remained in hiding for several months whilst arrangements were made by his father for him to leave the country. Mr Cooray, claims that he is from Colombo and that it would not be possible for him to go back there or to any part of the country as the authorities have arrested LTTE members throughout the country. He seeks your advice on the following. (a) the merits of his claim for asylum (b) how is claim for asylum would be processed by the Home Office (c) If his claim were to be refused the procedure for appealing to the tribunal Question 2 Ignatius is a British Citizen of Nigerian origin he seeks your advice on the following. His father has recently died and his mother resides in their village with one of his nieces who is sixteen years old. He has for several years been sending money to his parents and other members of his family. He has four siblings all of whom are in Nigeria, but unfortunately they reside in Abuja which is about 90 miles from the village where his mother and sister reside. His mother suffers from arthritis and she finds it difficult to travel in cars for a long period of time. The village where she resides has good local facilities such as shop, post office and banks. She has gas, electricity, television, radio, cooker and fridge. Ignatius sends his mother and sister & #163;120 per month which she collects from the local post office. His other siblings visit his mother twice a year, they are all employed, married with children. Ignatius travelled to Nigeria four times last year to provide support for his mother, he is now of the view that it would be in her interest for her to live with him in the United Kingdom. He would also like to make an application to bring his niece to this country. Ignatius, is married with two children and he resides in a three bedroom property, his children are both female and are 6 and 8 years old. Advise Ignatius