UK lawyers ask illegal immigrants from India to pose as Khalistanis to claim asylum: Report

A British media report claims that Indian immigrants who enter the United Kingdom illegally were advised by the country’s lawyers to pretend to be a part of the Khalistan movement and apply for asylum in Britain under false human rights claims. The report has since prompted the UK watchdog for solicitors to investigate legal firms and individuals suspected of breaching the rules.

What did the British media report claim?

The report is said to be based on a sting operation conducted by The Daily Mail and published earlier this week. An undercover reporter posing as an Indian national who arrived in Britain illegally on a small boat looking for work was charged thousands of pounds and advised to claim asylum under false pretences in the UK, said the British media report.

According to the report, illegal migrants from the Indian state of Punjab, are allegedly advised by some lawyers in the UK to fake persecution over their support for Khalistani groups – a discredited separatist movement that calls for the break-up of Punjab – to apply for asylum in the country.

One of the lawyersasked for 10,000 pounds ($12,873) to create a “horrific” backstory for the reporter pretending to be an illegal immigrant for the asylum application. These claims reportedly included “sexual torture, beatings, slave labour, false imprisonment and death threats that left him suicidal and compelled to flee to the UK.”

The lawyer in question also boasted about a “success rate of more than 90 per cent” in such cases, reported The Daily Mail. Another lawyer said he would use what he referred to as “fine ingredients of an asylum case” and make it look like the “reporter feared for his life in India”. This would include “anti-government political allegiances, a love affair with someone from the wrong caste or being gay,” according to the British media report.

A separate lawyer who charged the British reporter, posing as a farmer, 5,500 pounds ($7,076) told him to claim that he participated in the farmers’ agitation and that “someone invited him to join the Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh,” and “now he fears the Indian security agencies are after him.”

According to the British media report, there were 74,751 asylum applications, relating to nearly 90,000 people, in 2022 – more than twice the number of applications in 2019 – with just under half from people who arrived by small boat. However, nearly one in four asylum claimants whose applications were rejected by the UK Home Office wereappealed, last year, reported The Daily Mail.

UK PM reacts to the report

The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and shared the story by The Daily Mail and criticised the solicitors exposed during the sting operation and said, “This is what we’re up against. The Labour Party, a subset of lawyers, criminal gangs – they’re all on the same side, propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally. I have a plan to stop it.”

UK watchdog launches investigation

A member of Sunak’s cabinet in the Ministry of Justice, Alex Chalk in a letter to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) called for “full force of sanctions” against solicitors found to be abusing the country’s immigration system.

In response, an SRA spokesperson said, “We can confirm we are investigating the firms/individuals. As a result of the information provided, we are looking to take urgent action to make sure the public are protected.”

The SRA, which monitors more than 200,000 solicitors in England and Wales, also has the power to close down firms. Reportedly, up to 40 firms are being monitored by the authorities for suspected asylum claim abuses.

(With inputs from agencies)

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