Three people have been arrested in raids targeting a suspected crime gang accused of helping migrants pretend to be gay to claim asylum.
uncertain
migrants → arrest → asylum
The network has allegedly been charging migrants up to £4,500 for fabricated evidence, including forged documents and staged photos in gay clubs and bars.
uncertain
network → charge → clubs
They are believed to have supported dozens of bogus asylum claims from Bangladeshi men claiming to be at risk of persecution if they returned home.
uncertain
they → believe → persecution
Two people were arrested in London yesterday on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences, while a third was arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally.
Immigration Enforcement officers also seized jewellery, phones and thousands of pounds of cash.
Chris Foster, a regional criminal investigations lead for the Home Office, said the arrests were over fake claims connected to Apanjon, a Bangladeshi community LGBT organisation based in Whitechapel, east London.
uncertain
arrests → arrest → Whitechapel
He said: 'We've got some intelligence that they can provide fake letters and documents, and they could charge anywhere between £1,000 and £4,500.
uncertain
they → say → 1,000
It could be letters of support from Apanjon, it could be staged photographs, suggesting that these people are gay, it could be letters from people claiming to be in a friendship or a sexual relationship - [a] same-sex relationship - as the claimants.
uncertain
it → stag → claimants
Two people were arrested in London yesterday on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences, while a third was arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally
Photos show dozens of men from the group wearing matching pink t-shirts at London's annual pride parade and during monthly meet-ups
More than 100 asylum applications linked to the network are now being reviewed, some of which would have 'undoubtedly' been granted, Mr Foster said.
asserted
Foster → arrest → which
They are said to include letters confirming attendance at LGBT events and staged photos, many taken in the same gay nightlife venues.
asserted
They → say → venues
Photos show dozens of men from the group wearing matching pink t-shirts at London's annual pride parade and during monthly meet-ups.
asserted
dozens → show → ups
The number of asylum seekers claiming they need protection on the basis of sexual orientation has rocketed in recent years to hit 2,133 in 2023.
asserted
they → claim → 2023
Pakistanis accounted for the most claims – 578 – followed by 175 from Bangladeshis and 103 from Nigerians.
uncertain
Pakistanis → account → Nigerians
Overall asylum claims topped 100,000 in 2025, of which 35 per cent were made by people whose student, work or tourist visas had expired.
uncertain
visas → top → people
Last year, an investigation exposed a shadowy network of asylum experts charging up to £7,000 to coach migrants whose visas are running out how to pose as gay.
asserted
visas → expose → gay
Undercover BBC News reporters posed as students facing visa expiry and approached several legal advisers.
The Home Office has said it is continuing to review asylum claims linked to that investigation, which led to two arrests in May.
uncertain
which → pose → May
At Law & Justice Solicitors in east London, paralegal Mazedul Hasan Shakil passed a reporter's details to Tanisa Khan, an adviser to Worcester LGBT – which describes itself as a support group for gay and lesbian asylum seekers.
asserted
which → pass → seekers
Ms Khan was secretly filmed telling the journalist he needed to 'claim to be an LGBT person'.
uncertain
he → film → journalist
When he said 'but I'm not,' she replied by saying, 'that's it, you're not.'
asserted
you → say → ?
She offered a £2,500 package including club photos, tickets, letters claiming sexual relationships and an endorsement from Worcester LGBT.
asserted
She → offer → Worcester
Apanjon is a Bangladeshi community LGBT organisation based in Whitechapel, east London
A page on the organisation's website, which describes its main as as campaigning for 'equality and justice' for LGBT people in Bangladesh
The adviser boasted of her success rate and suggested the 'client's' imaginary wife could also apply for asylum by claiming to be a lesbian.
uncertain
wife → base → asylum
At a Worcester LGBT event in Beckton, east London, attended by more than 175 men from across the UK, several people openly admitted to undercover reporters that virtually none were gay.
asserted
none → attend → reporters
One said: 'Nobody is a gay here.
asserted
Nobody → say → ?
The group's website claims it supports only genuine LGBT asylum seekers and is formally recognised by the Home Office.
uncertain
it → claim → Office
At Connaught Law in London, senior adviser Aqeel Abbasi quoted £7,000 for the service and assured the reporter the risk of refusal was 'very low'.
asserted
risk → quote → refusal
He told the reporter to have his photo taken in gay clubs and find someone to pose as a fake male partner.
asserted
photo → tell → partner
Ana Gonzalez, an immigration lawyer with 30 years' experience, said the likes of Ms Khan were 'clearly breaking the law'.
asserted
likes → say → law
'People like that [are] just really making things harder for the legitimate asylum seekers and refugees out there,' she said.
asserted
she → make → seekers
'Particularly for something that is as intangible as being LGBTI, really, because when you are a victim of torture, when certain things happen to you, often there is a way of evidencing that, in an objective way.
asserted
things → happen → way
After being confronted by a reporter, Ms Khan blamed communication difficulties for a 'misunderstanding' and said she doesn't speak Urdu fluently.
asserted
she → confront → Urdu
She denied telling the reporter to make a false claim or offering to create fabricated evidence.
uncertain
She → deny → evidence
Earlier this year, immigration adviser Tanisa Khan was filled telling an undercover reporter how to pretend to be gay to claim asylum
Ms Khan is an adviser to Worcester LGBT - which describes itself as a support group for gay and lesbian asylum seekers
Law & Justice Solicitors said Ms Khan had no professional connection to the firm and that it was investigating 'any potential unauthorised access' to its London office.
Earlier this year the Daily Mail revealed how one Cameroonian man who was granted asylum in Britain after claiming to be gay was later revealed to have a secret wife and child.
Marius Kamna, 35, travelled to Britain on a temporary visa for the 2021 UN climate summit in Glasgow before claiming asylum in the UK based on his sexuality.
The asylum panel that granted him refugee status was never informed about his heterosexual marriage in Cameroon.
uncertain
that → fill → Cameroon
However, Mr Kamna insisted it was his marriage that represented the deception, not his claim to be gay.
uncertain
that → insist → deception
'I had so many secrets, I was persecuted,' he said.
asserted
he → have → secrets
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that asylum applicants 'faking persecution are beneath contempt and mock real victims who need protection'.
asserted
who → say → protection
'To the gangs profiting from this disgraceful fraud: you will be prosecuted, stripped of your dirty money and shut down,' she said.
asserted
she → profit → money
'And to those cheating the system, your claim will be thrown out, and you will be removed from this country.'
A conviction for asylum fraud carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
uncertain
conviction → cheat → prison
The Aporia
