In a major investigation, British public service BBC has taken a closer look at how the extensive and lucrative migration industry works. As in Sweden, it is a thriving trade kept afloat by the country’s liberal and naive asylum system.

“From fake news sites to staged political protests and fabricated medical conditions, asylum seekers and the advisors who help them use a range of manufactured evidence to support their false claims,” writes the BBC in one of two articles from what they call “the fake asylum industry.”

The whole thing constitutes a huge scam industry where, among other things, migrants are charged for advice on pretending to be homosexual to apply for asylum. Other techniques include paying to have articles published in atheist magazines and hiring someone to pose as a same-sex partner.

At an office in East London, a BBC reporter received an instruction course on how to apply for asylum. He pretended to be a Bangladeshi student who had just dropped out of university and said he saw asylum as a way to remain in the country.

There he was taught by Zahid Hasan Akhand, who introduced himself as a lawyer, how to deceive the authorities. Three options were presented: to pretend to be someone persecuted due to their sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or political opinions.

For a fee of £1,500, equivalent to almost 19,000 Swedish kronor, Akhand would help him with “preparing your application, preparing you for the interview, and conducting repeated mock interviews.” Creating evidence to back up the claims and convince the authorities would cost an additional few thousand pounds.

The easiest option would be to pretend to be homosexual “since they won’t dig too much into your background.”

When asked if the scheme works, he replied:

— Everyone succeeds, God willing. If you listen and arrange the evidence properly, it will work.

Illegal to Be Homosexual

In 2022, Akhand qualified as a lawyer but has no license to practice law. For such a person, it is illegal to present oneself as a lawyer in connection with legal services.

The UK asylum system offers protection to people who cannot return to their home countries due to danger, for example, in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh where homosexuality is illegal.

Often, it concerns people whose student, work, or tourist visas have expired rather than those who have just arrived illegally. This group now constitutes 35 percent of all asylum applications and exceeded 100,000 last year.

Desire for Recommendation Letters

Every month, the organization Worcester LGBTQ holds meetings that attract participants from all over the country, many of whom appear to be fake asylum seekers. Ejel Khan, founder of the Muslim LGBT Network, describes it as “a huge problem.”

— People offer to pay me money to provide them with recommendation letters from my organization, but I never accept them. All my work is voluntary, he says.

Some openly admit that they are not homosexual but simply want to stay in the country.

Popular Method Among Pakistanis

Statistics from the Home Office show that Pakistani citizens make up a disproportionately large share of claims based on sexuality.

In 2023, initial decisions were made on 3,430 LGBTQ asylum applications and nearly 1,400 new asylum applications were submitted due to sexual orientation. Just over 40 percent were made by Pakistani citizens, and they also accounted for the largest number of such claims in the previous five years.

Almost two-thirds of asylum seekers claiming persecution based on sexual orientation had their applications approved in the initial stage in 2023.

The same year, Pakistani citizens were the fourth most common nationality among all asylum applications but accounted for only six percent of the total number of asylum cases.

Calls for Prosecutions

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s spokesperson for home affairs, is appalled by the investigation.

— This is an outrageous scandal that must be investigated immediately. Any lawyers caught assisting false asylum applications should be prosecuted, he says.

— Reform UK would put an end to this farce. We would leave the European Convention, review the asylum system, and ensure that those exploiting it face the full force of the law.

In March, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced comprehensive changes to the UK’s immigration rules, including that asylum seekers will now only be offered temporary protection and their cases will be reviewed every 30 months.

In response to the investigation, the Home Office claims that “anyone caught trying to exploit the system will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, including deportation from the UK.”

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