"Hundreds of Kurds claim connection to Kurdistan PM's daughter. And only 1% of migrant asylum claims in Britain are genuine"

The issue of illegal migration remains a pressing one in the UK. People continue to cross the English Channel in small boats, and their arrival sometimes sparks protests.

Against this backdrop, The Times newspaper published a major article on how the British asylum system works and the ways it can be abused.

The publication's source was a Home Office employee who has been making decisions on asylum applications for many years and has reviewed thousands of cases during this time. The Times does not name him and refers to him as J.

"At best, only 1% of asylum claims have genuine grounds. There is almost no aspect of the asylum system, where there isn't either large-scale fraud or serious failures. Nothing works as it should," he claims.

Hundreds of 'Lovers' and 'Gays'

J told The Times that in his work, he regularly encounters identical stories from people from the same countries. He and his colleagues call them "batch claims."

One of the most striking examples is Iraqi Kurds who claimed to have had romantic relationships with the daughter of the Prime Minister of Kurdistan and were therefore forced to seek asylum.

According to J, there were hundreds of such men. Among Home Office employees, this even became a subject of jokes.

Another scheme involves citizens of Pakistan who claim to be in danger in their homeland due to their homosexuality.

J says that he and his colleagues encountered hundreds of claims from Pakistanis who named the same man as their boyfriend. He provided them with letters that were supposed to confirm their relationships.

According to J, the claims of Pakistani men often featured photos from the same gay venue in East London — the Legs 800 club, which closed permanently last year.

"You get these pictures — and there are ten Pakistani guys standing topless in the club, hugging each other to try and prove they are gay," J recounts.

The Home Office is investigating a rise in fake claims from people posing as gay. A new probe was launched this year after a BBC investigation exposed a shadow industry of law firms and immigration consultants charging thousands of pounds to help migrants submit false claims about their sexual orientation.

One immigration lawyer told a journalist posing as a migrant that the Home Office never verifies the truth of such statements, and advised them to say in interviews: "I am gay, and this is my reality."

Opposition Members from Bangladesh

According to J, over the past couple of years, a large number of applicants from Bangladesh have emerged, claiming political persecution due to their membership in the "Awami League," which was in power for 15 years until 2024. Currently, all activities of this party in Bangladesh are banned.

As J claims, many Bangladeshis who call themselves members of the party or its student wing "Chhatra" cannot say anything substantial about its politics, apart from the slogan "Education, Peace, Prosperity."

At the same time, they often claim to have held high positions in the party — president, vice-president, or general secretary. When asked about their duties, they all give the same answer: "to help students who experienced financial difficulties during their studies."

According to J, similar stories from Bangladesh have been surfacing for years. After the change of power, applicants, he says, only had to change the name of the party whose persecution they supposedly feared.

Claims are often supported by "fake police documents," where "the same judge's name, the same magistrate, and the same location are used over and over again."

But a British official cannot call Bangladesh and verify the authenticity of a document. International confidentiality rules prohibit informing the authorities of the country of origin that a person is seeking asylum: if their story is genuine, such a check could itself put them at risk.

At the same time, as the publication notes, Pakistan and Bangladesh are among the main countries for asylum applications in the UK. Almost nine out of ten applications are submitted by people who arrived in the country on work, study, or tourist visas and remained after their validity expired.

Refusing is Harder Than Agreeing

J sees the problem not only in the actions of some migrants but also in the very organization of the Home Office's work.

Upon arrival in the UK or submitting an application after their visa expires, migrants undergo a brief "screening interview" where basic information is collected. According to J, applicants often give very vague answers during this interview.

Later, a second, main interview is conducted, which can last several hours. Previously, several months could pass between the two interviews. The publication's interviewee believes that such a break allows applicants to prepare a story, get advice, and find necessary fake evidence.

The Home Office has now accelerated the review of applications and shortened this interval. However, according to J, some applicants obtain a sick note and thus gain several more months for preparation.

According to J, the culture within the Ministry's teams creates an internal bias in favor of granting applications. An official must grant an application if they believe the applicant is "more likely than not" telling the truth.

Approving an application takes "a maximum of half an hour," whereas processing a refusal can take many hours, as the official must respond to every argument made by the applicant.

J gives an example: a person says they fear being killed upon returning to their homeland but claims not to know how to report the danger to their country's police. The Home Office employee must then explain to them how to contact the police. Sometimes, the decision also requires listing the constitutional rights a person has in their home country.

According to J, management also instructed them to refer to asylum seekers as "clients." He believes this reflects an approach where the employee feels they are "providing a service to them, not to the country."

Authorities' Position

The Home Office disagreed with the conclusions of the anonymous employee.

The department told The Times that they do not comment on "anonymous reports." The Home Office assures that they have established procedures for verifying the truthfulness of claims and detecting fraud.

As one of its indicators, the department cites statistics. In 2022, 77% of reviewed applications were granted; now it is 38%. In the year leading up to June, refugee status was granted to 42,394 people out of 115,394 initial decisions.

British authorities promise to further intensify the fight against abuses. At the end of June, a new immigration and asylum bill was introduced in the House of Commons, which has already passed its second reading and is now awaiting parliamentary review.

The Home Office states that the new law should accelerate the processing of applications and strengthen the fight against those who attempt to deceive the immigration system. The head of the department warned: those who try to fraudulently obtain the right to remain in the UK will be refused and deported from the country.

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