Just 1% of asylum seekers in UK genuine, insider says
UK-born PIO Gujarati-origin former British diplomat Ameer Kotecha said: “How on earth can there be almost 5,000 asylum seekers from India? Because of their membership of the Awami League, the whistleblower said, a large number of Bangladeshi asylum seekers in recent years have been claiming they faced political persecution in Bangladesh.
TOI correspondent from London: “At best 1% of asylum seekers in the UK are genuine,” a home office whistleblower has said, adding that most claims are scripted and bogus but still get granted. He said many asylum seekers used the “same script” but staff won’t check their claims with their country of origin, as doing so could place individuals at risk. A large number of Iraqi Kurds claiming asylum said they had been in a relationship with the same daughter of the prime minister of the Kurdistan region, he said, adding that this had become a “running joke” among colleagues. A home office spokesperson said they “do not comment on anonymous briefings”.
India is treated by the home office as a designated safe state.