False asylum claims are a direct attack on the British sense of justice... and now we've just had our watershed moment

Rakib Ehsan
Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:11:44 +0000
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For some time, I have lamented the BBC’s biased coverage on matters of immigration and asylum – all too often being sanitised and not getting into the nitty-gritty of what is going wrong in Britain.

But credit should be given when it is due – the BBC has run a series of insightful investigations into how some foreign nationals are gaming the UK’s immigration and asylum system to avoid deportation and remain on these islands. It has involved some outstanding undercover reporting which has revealed how far too many immigration lawyers are enabling the exploitation of systems and procedures, assisting with the submission of false claims.

In the first part of the BBC’s major investigation, Auntie Beeb highlighted how a ‘shadow industry’ of law firms and legal advisers is charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay to remain in the UK. This revealed how some migrants, whose current visas were approaching their end date, were being fed with ‘fake cover stories’ and were guided on how to obtain fabricated evidence (such as supporting letters, photographs and medical reports). Then they were advised to claim that they were homosexuals and fearful of losing their lives if returned to Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The second part revealed how some asylum seekers - and the advisers helping them - are using an array of fabricated evidence to bolster their fake claims. This included pretending to be an atheist or claiming to hold political views which were not genuine. In some cases, foreign nationals seeking to remain in the UK were offered a ‘menu’ of what they could pretend to be – a homosexual, an atheist, or political activist (primarily to avoid deportation to socially conservative Muslim-majority homelands with relatively high levels of political violence, intimidation, and harassment).

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The BBC’s latest revelations, published today as part three of the investigation, show that migrants are also falsely claiming to be victims of domestic abuse to stay in the UK.

There are concerns that certain protections – especially the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession – are being exploited against a backdrop of inadequate Home Office checks, with the British partners of such foreign nationals having their lives turned upside down by these baseless accusations after being duped into such relationships and marriages.

I have long criticised the BBC – our national public broadcaster – for not adequately engaging with mainstream anxieties in Britain over matters of immigration and asylum.

And it should do as it is ultimately funded by the British taxpayer, with immigration and asylum remaining one of the top issues when the public is asked what the most important issues are facing the country.

In fact, the BBC has tended to overlook those concerns, if not framing them as forms of xenophobia – over time, becoming part of a web of public institutions where ‘metropolitan sophisticates’ have developed a disproportionately high level of influence.

In this context, GB News – The People’s Channel which has grown impressively in terms of popularity and viewership – should be congratulated for platforming the legitimate concerns of decent citizens and shifting the dial on important matters of immigration, asylum, and public security.

The truth is that while the BBC’s investigation is long overdue (the UK’s immigration and asylum systems have been exploited for some time), it is better late than never.

It is a watershed moment in our national debate on immigration and asylum – the BBC, which has rightly been under fire for some time over exhibiting a blatant progressive-liberal bias, has orchestrated a comprehensive undercover investigation which has drawn attention to a sham industry which is profiting from the exploitation of the UK’s immigration and asylum system.

This is a direct attack on the traditional British sense of fair play, decency, and justice.

If those who rule cannot be trusted to introduce a far more restrictive immigration system and well-ordered asylum regime, anti-establishment sentiment in the country will only grow – to the point that the very legitimacy of the British state will be irreversibly damaged. And that is a dangerous place to be in.

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