Milan Horvath claims he fled to the UK in 1997 after his country failed to protect him and his family from months of persecution by racist gangs.

The question is whether it is the right sort of persecution

Nick Hardwick, Refugee Council

The hearing on Thursday could be a test case for thousands of gypsies, or Roma, from Eastern Europe who have applied for asylum in the UK.

Conservative MP Gerald Howarth has warned that it will open the floodgates to immigrants and asylum seekers.

Puck Deraadt, a friend and guarantor of the Horvath family, told the Radio 4 Today programme many Roma families from Slovakia complained of similar persecution.

Fear of persecution

She said Mr Horvath's father was killed by racist gangs when he was 12 and his brother was beaten by chain-wielding thugs.

"The Horvath family had slept for six months in a plastic-lined hole in the ground in their smallholding," she said.

But she said the attacks on Mr Horvath and many other families went unpunished.

"They are not taken seriously, there is no legal remedy and moreover the police then accuse and harass the people who complain," she said.

Mrs Deraadt said the House of Lords hearing was more likely to go against Mr Horvath for political reasons than to follow the Geneva Convention, which advises granting asylum if reasonable fear of persecution on race grounds can be shown.

Facts not disputed

She said the "opening of floodgates" would not happen if the initial scrutiny of asylum seekers was skilled, professional and on the basis of individual casework.

If the House of Lords decides he does have a right to stay, it does open the floodgates

Gerald Howarth, Conservative MP

Nick Hardwick, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the facts of Mr Horvath's case were not disputed by the courts.

"The question is whether it is the right sort of persecution," he said.

"This case has implications for refugees all over the world."

The Home Office argues that asylum cannot be given if there is a judiciary, protective laws and police force in place in the home country.

Flood warning

There are about 5,000 Roma asylum seekers in Britain but Slovakia, which is a member of the Council of Europe and keen to join the European Union, is considered a safe country.

Mr Howarth, a member of the Commons Home Affairs select committee, said Slovakia was not a country emerging from the dark ages.

"If the UK is to be held to account for the administrative efficiency and police incompetence of every other state, there is no end to this process," he said.

"If the House of Lords decides he does have a right to stay in the UK it does open the floodgates."