Home Office reviews 100 potentially fraudulent asylum applications

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 10 Oct, 14:37 · Archive

The Home Office is reviewing more than 100 potentially fraudulent asylum applications linked to Apanjon, a Bangladeshi LGBT support organisation in Whitechapel, east London. Two men suspected of involvement in the alleged scheme have been arrested following raids by Immigration Enforcement officers.

Investigators suspect some asylum applicants submitted fabricated documents, staged photographs and false letters of support to claim they would face persecution for their sexuality if returned to their home countries. According to reports, individuals within the network charged straight migrants between £1,000 and £4,500 to fabricate evidence for sexuality-based asylum claims.

Ejel Khan, founder of the Muslim LGBT Network, told the Daily Mail the problem was significant. He said people had offered him money in the past to give them letters of recommendation despite admitting to him they were not gay, which he refused.

Figures show 2,133 asylum seekers whose claims involved sexual orientation were granted protection in 2023, compared with 762 in 2022 and 677 in 2021. The increase was partly attributed to a backlog of applications accumulated during the Covid pandemic, though critics have alleged that some lawyers and refugee support organisations may be helping applicants exploit the system.

How it is being reported

• Migrants ‘caught pretending to be gay’ to win right to stay in UKInvestigators suspect some asylum applicants pretend to be gay to claim they would face persecution in their home countries because of their sexuality.Daily Express · 10 Oct, 14:19
• Yes, some migrants are gay - but ever more of them, aided by Left-wing lawyers, are faking their sexuality to win the right to stay: PAUL BRACCHIThe corner of Whitechapel High Street, in the bustling heart of London's East End, is where this story of our times begins.Daily Mail · 10 Oct, 00:00

In this story: Apanjon · Whitechapel · Ejel Khan · Muslim LGBT Network · Home Office · Bangladesh

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