UK Investigates Over 100 Asylum Claims Linked to LGBT Charity Amid Fraud Allegations

The UK Home Office is reviewing more than 100 asylum applications associated with a London-based charity, Apanjon, amid allegations that some migrants are falsely claiming to be LGBT to gain the right to stay in the country. The investigation follows the arrest of two individuals suspected of orchestrating fraudulent claims.

Apanjon, which translates to 'one's own people' in Bengali, was established in 2017 to provide welfare services and organize events for the LGBT community from Bangladesh. However, the organization has come under scrutiny as the Home Office examines claims where sexual orientation was cited as the basis for seeking asylum. Evidence packages, allegedly costing thousands of pounds, are said to have included fabricated documents, letters of support, and staged photographs.

Official figures indicate a significant rise in asylum seekers allowed to stay in Britain based on claims of homosexual persecution. In 2023, 2,133 individuals were granted asylum on these grounds, a notable increase from 762 in 2022 and 677 in 2021. This number represents a fourfold increase compared to pre-pandemic levels.

While Pakistan historically accounted for the highest number of such cases, Bangladesh followed with 175 applications in the last reported year for which sexual orientation was a basis for asylum claims. Homosexual activity is criminalized in Bangladesh, with potential for life imprisonment.

Some sources suggest that the rise in these claims may be linked to the proliferation of legal aid groups and charities, some of whom are accused of assisting migrants in manipulating the asylum system. Ejel Khan, founder of the Muslim LGBT Network, told the Daily Mail that he has been offered money to provide recommendation letters for individuals who admitted they were not gay, stating that such claims tarnish the work done for genuine asylum seekers.

In previous immigration rulings, judges have described claims supported by Apanjon as "unreliable, inconsistent and staged." One case involved a Bangladeshi man who claimed to be at risk in his home country and provided photographs to prove his sexuality, but an immigration judge deemed the evidence "contrived" and the pictures fake.

Other cases of alleged deception have surfaced independently of Apanjon. Last year, an Albanian asylum seeker was found to have misled the Home Office by failing to disclose his marriage to a woman while claiming asylum as a gay man. Another individual, granted asylum after claiming he faced death for being gay in Nigeria, later received a prison sentence for fraud and fathered children with multiple women.

In April, an adviser for Worcester LGBT, another support group for gay and lesbian asylum seekers, was secretly filmed by the BBC appearing to offer assistance in fabricating a false story for a Home Office interview, including providing fake photographs and letters for a fee. While the organization's founder denied wrongdoing, the adviser was removed, and the organization subsequently closed, citing reputational damage.

Immigration Enforcement officers conducted raids in Whitechapel, leading to the arrest of two men. The Home Office stated that anyone found guilty of fraud in relation to the Apanjon case would be removed from the country. LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell welcomed the investigation, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the asylum system's integrity to ensure that genuine victims of persecution are not overlooked.