Asylum-seeker with Beatles tattoo avoids deportation by arguing it makes her at risk of harm

A Kurdish asylum seeker has managed to avoid deportation to Iraq from Britain because of her Beatles-themed tattoo.

The 28-year-old previously lost an asylum claim in 2016 and was told her appeal rights were exhausted two years later.

But she argued that she would be at risk of harm because her tattoo would mean that she was perceived as a ‘thoroughly westernised woman’.

The tribunal heard she had the lyrics ‘take these broken wings and learn to fly’ from Paul McCartney’s 1968 song Blackbird across her shoulder.

She feared she would be risk of being persecuted by her family and society, as she no longer follows Islam.

She said: ‘I feel trapped like a caged bird whilst I was living with my family and they did not allow me to live freely like I am doing today.

‘I also feel that since coming to the UK, I feel independent and liberated, as I have no one to control me.

‘I believe that I would surely be persecuted in Iraq for having a tattoo, as body art is perceived as rebellious.’

An asylum judge in Cardiff quashed the decisions to deport her and to dismiss her appeal, despite officials arguing there was no evidence she would be at risk.

Judge Andrew Grubb said if she would have to prove she was at risk in order to possibly have a right to stay on human rights grounds.

A new hearing will take place at a later date.