Migration fury as ‘sham’ attorneys ‘tell asylum seekers to pretend to be gay’ | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Shabana Mahmood has slammed immigration attorneys allegedly serving to migrants to cheat the asylum system by pretending to be homosexual.

Legal advisers are reportedly charging hundreds to educate international nationals whose scholar and work visas are expiring on search sanctuary to remain indefinitely and declare advantages.

They are encouraging folks to say they’re homosexual as a result of there aren’t any checks, including that it’s “the very method everyone is adopting”, a BBC investigation has claimed.

Some even provided to rearrange for folks to fake they’d same-sex relationships with shoppers, with others compiling dossiers of staged pictures and faux help letters.

Home Secretary Ms Mahmood declared: “Anyone abusing protections for people fleeing persecution over gender or sexual orientation is beyond contempt.

“Let me be clear: attempt to defraud the British folks to enter or stay within the UK and your asylum declare will probably be refused, your help lower off, and you will see that your self on a one-way flight out of Britain.

“Sham lawyers facilitating this abuse will face the full force of the law. With them behind bars, their dirty money will be seized and reinvested to shut down the crime they once bankrolled.”

One undercover reporter was advised by Tanisa Khan, an unregulated immigration adviser in Forest Gate, east London: “Listen to me.

“There is no person who’s actual. There is just one manner out in an effort to reside right here now and that’s the very methodology everyone seems to be adopting.”

She added: “There is no check-up to find out if the person is a gay.

“The main thing is what you say. You just have to tell them that ‘I am a gay and it is my reality’.”

Ms Khan later told the undercover reporter to attend an event organised by Worcester LGBT to bolster his claim.

Ms Khan told the undercover reporter: “This meeting is essential because you are required to provide evidence to the Home Office demonstrating that, if you are gay, you are indeed affiliated with a gay organisation.”

She said Worcester LGBT would be able to issue a letter he could use as evidence for his application.

At one meeting shown in Beckton, east London, groups of men revealed the asylum scam crisis.

One man, Fahar, told an undercover reporter: “Most of the folks right here will not be gays.”

Another, who offers the identify Zeeshan, went additional and stated: “Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0.01% are gay.”

The BBC investigation claims migrants are being given fabricated proof to take to Home Office appointments, together with supporting letters, pictures and medical reviews.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy stated: “Human rights laws have killed immigration control.

“Many claimant lawyers and ‘charities’ – many publicly funded – are abetting thousands of crimes.

“They all belong in prison. We will bring the whole thing down.”

Reform UK’s house affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf stated: “There are many who have been accessories to the perpetration of a massive crime on the British people. All will be held to account by Reform.”

In the BBC investigation, Connaught Law in London bragged that, for £7,000, it may convey a fabricated asylum declare. It insisted the possibility of refusal was “very low”.

The BBC investigation additionally revealed migrants pretending to be asylum seekers are visiting GPs pretending to be depressed in an effort to get medical proof to bolster their instances, with one even mendacity about being HIV constructive.

A lawyer linked to a different agency advised an undercover reporter he had helped folks fake to be homosexual or atheists to efficiently receive asylum.

He provided to assist with a pretend declare for a payment of £1,500 and stated it could price an extra £2,000-£3,000 to create proof.

Home Office statistics present that Pakistani nationals make up a disproportionate variety of the claims made on the grounds of sexuality.

In 2023, the newest yr for which knowledge is accessible, there have been preliminary selections on 3,430 LGBT asylum claims, and practically 1,400 new asylum claims lodged on the premise of sexual orientation.

Some 42% had been made by Pakistani nationals they usually accounted for the biggest variety of such claims in every of the 5 earlier years.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp stated: “This exposes the scam at the heart of many asylum claims.

“Bogus advisers help illegal immigrants make up claim to game to get asylum, for example by pretending to be gay.

“Tanisa Khan and her associates like Mazedul Shakil should be prosecuted for immigration fraud.

“The whole system is rotten. The asylum system must be totally overhauled so only a very small number of people facing real personal persecution with real evidence to support it are given asylum.

“This asylum scam must end. And illegal immigrants should be banned from seeking asylum at all.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Any try to misuse protections designed for folks fleeing real persecution due to their sexuality is deplorable.

“The asylum system is built on robust safeguards to ensure every claim is rigorously and fairly assessed.

“Protection is granted solely to those that meet the established standards.

“Abuse is actively uncovered and procedures continually reviewed to shut down misuse.”