by Alllison Pearson, Telegraph
Caseworker reveals how illegal migrants trick the system to stay in Britain
[…] How does Nicky know when an applicant is lying?
Some, she claims, repeatedly change their story. “For example, an Iranian will say, ‘I’m claiming asylum because I was politically active against the regime’. There’s no evidence to prove that, and we feel like it’s safe for him to return. Then, he’ll say, ‘Well, I’m a Christian convert now’, although he never mentioned that before.
“And when I ask him about Easter, he says Easter is to do with ‘chocolate eggs’ and has never heard of the resurrection. But if there’s a live claim lodged, it’s a barrier to removal, and we still have to house him and fund him. Now, men like him will go through the whole process again till they get to appeal rights exhausted, and then they’ll lodge a further submissions claim to say, ‘Well, I’m homosexual now’.”
Further submissions can be made by an asylum seeker after all their appeals are exhausted. It is a way to provide new evidence or information to the Home Office. If the information is judged to be significantly different to their previous case, it can be reviewed as a fresh claim.
How long does that go on?
She rolls her eyes. “Forever basically. Even if they eventually get a deportation order, it’s mainly voluntary. Very few of them ever get sent home – the Home Office hasn’t got the resources or the willpower to do it. They just disappear.”
How many disappeared asylum seekers does Nicky think are in the UK?
“To be honest, I think it must be hundreds of thousands. Just based on the number of further submissions claims. And that’s without the initial asylum claims from people who were able to come over on lorries before Brexit, and they were mainly the ones who absconded because they just got out of the lorry and ran.”