For people who genuinely face persecution because they are LGBTQ+, claiming asylum can be a matter of survival. For a suspected criminal network in the UK, however, authorities say that vulnerability became a business opportunity.
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Three people have been arrested following a Home Office immigration enforcement raid targeting an alleged network accused of helping migrants fabricate asylum claims by pretending to be gay. Investigators say the operation charged migrants as much as £4,500 for fake evidence, including staged photographs, fabricated documents and letters supposedly supporting same-sex relationships.
The arrests took place Tuesday morning in London. Two people were arrested on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences, while a third was arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally. Officers also seized phones, jewellery and thousands of pounds in cash.
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The alleged fake gay asylum industry
According to Chris Foster, a regional lead for criminal investigations at the Home Office, the investigation concerns separate asylum claims connected to Apanjon, a Bangladeshi community LGBT organisation based in Whitechapel, east London.
The Home Office says asylum caseworkers noticed patterns in suspicious applications, prompting an investigation that had been running for several months.
“We’ve got some intelligence that they can provide fake letters and documents, and they could charge anywhere between £1,000 and £4,500,” Foster said.
“It could be letters of support from Apanjon, it could be staged photographs, suggesting that these people are gay, it could be letters from people claiming to be in a friendship or a sexual relationship – [a] same-sex relationship – as the claimants.”
More than 100 asylum claims connected to the suspected network are now being reviewed by the Home Office. Foster said some of the fraudulent applications would have “undoubtedly” been granted.
That is particularly concerning because the entire point of an asylum system is to protect people who actually face serious danger if they are forced to return home. When fabricated claims enter that system, they don’t just create a paperwork headache. They risk making genuine cases harder to assess and giving people who really are fleeing persecution another reason to fear that they won’t be believed.
Immigration judges have previously questioned evidence associated with Apanjon, describing some of it as unreliable or lacking credibility. In one case, an applicant who said he had attended the organisation’s events was found to have submitted staged photographs.
The Home Office also alleges that the organisation would sometimes support men claiming asylum because they were gay only after those men had initially been refused on political grounds. In one case, a claimant reportedly did not raise his sexuality until nine years after his original asylum application.
A wider investigation into fake LGBTQ+ claims
Tuesday’s arrests aren’t happening in isolation. Earlier this year, a BBC investigation exposed allegations that law firms and advisers were helping migrants present themselves as gay in order to strengthen asylum applications. That investigation led to two arrests in May, and the Home Office says it is continuing to review claims connected to the reporting.
In the BBC investigation, an adviser called Tanisa Khan told an undercover reporter that she could provide a “comprehensive package”, including photographs at gay clubs and other supporting evidence. She was linked to Worcester LGBT, a community group she reportedly told the undercover reporter to attend to help build evidence for a false claim.
Men attending one of the group’s events at a community centre in Beckton, east London, claimed they were not actually gay. One said:
“Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0.01% are gay.”
The investigation also uncovered allegations involving bogus medical conditions and fake news websites being used to strengthen fraudulent asylum applications.
Worcester LGBT has since closed. Its founder previously said the group did not create or support fabricated evidence in asylum claims and that it was not the organisation’s role to determine whether someone was actually gay. Khan blamed communication difficulties for a “misunderstanding” and denied advising the reporter to make a false claim or offering to create fabricated evidence.
Real LGBTQ+ persecution isn’t a loophole
For LGBTQ+ people watching this story unfold, there is an uncomfortable distinction worth keeping clear: a fraudulent asylum claim and a genuine LGBTQ+ asylum claim are not remotely the same thing.
People really are forced to flee their countries because of their sexuality or gender identity. In some places, being openly LGBTQ+ can mean facing imprisonment, violence, family rejection or other serious threats. For someone in that position, proving what their life has been like to officials can already be an exhausting and deeply personal process.
That makes allegations of staged gay club photographs and manufactured relationships particularly grim. A person’s sexuality isn’t supposed to be a costume someone puts on for an immigration interview, and genuine LGBTQ+ asylum seekers shouldn’t have their experiences treated with greater suspicion because criminal networks allegedly tried to manufacture convincing paperwork.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “those faking persecution are beneath contempt and mock real victims who need protection”.
“To the gangs profiting from this disgraceful fraud: you will be prosecuted, stripped of your dirty money and shut down,” she said.
“And to those cheating the system, your claim will be thrown out, and you will be removed from this country.”
A conviction for asylum fraud carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
For now, more than 100 claims are under review. And perhaps the biggest issue isn’t whether someone can convincingly stage a photograph at a gay venue. It’s how much harder these schemes can make it for the person who doesn’t need to pretend at all.
Source: BBC