Displaying items by tag: fake asylum claims

A reporter posing as an economic migrant found immigration law firm staff briefing clients how to lie to the authorities to stay in Britain. They were willing to help him get refugee status despite being told he had no legitimate reason to stay in the UK. One lawyer asked for £10,000 to invent a backstory for him, including claims of sexual torture, beatings, slave labour, false imprisonment and death threats making him suicidal and compelled to flee to the UK. He promised a doctor’s report to back up the story and antidepressants to give to the Home Office as ‘evidence’ of mental trauma. Another lawyer promised to ‘create the evidence’ to make it appear the reporter had a genuine fear of ‘persecution and assassination’ if he returned home. He boasted of a success rate of over 90% with similar asylum cases. Immigrants face jail for making false asylum claims, whereas solicitors facilitating and profiting from them only face professional sanctions.