Asylum Seeker claims face scrutiny in undercover investigation
An asylum seeker system under pressure has come under fresh scrutiny after an undercover investigation found a network of legal advisers and firms allegedly helping migrants pretend to be gay to stay in the UK. The investigation found migrants whose visas were nearing expiry were being given false cover stories and coached to gather fabricated evidence. The Home Office said anyone found trying to exploit the system would face the full force of the law, including removal from the UK.
False claims, fake evidence, and expired visas
The investigation found that the people being targeted were often international students, workers, or tourists whose visas had expired, rather than arrivals who had just come to the country on small boats or other illegal routes. They were told to prepare supporting letters, photographs, and medical reports to back claims that they were gay and would be in danger if returned to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
That tactic matters because the UK asylum process is meant to protect people who cannot safely go back to their home countries. In countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, gay sex is illegal, and that is what makes sexual orientation a basis for protection in genuine cases.
Inside the undercover meetings
The investigation began after initial tip-offs and led undercover reporters to pose as international students from Pakistan and Bangladesh whose visas were about to run out. One meeting was held on a Tuesday evening at a community centre in Beckton, east London, where more than 175 people gathered for an event organised by Worcester LGBT, a group that describes itself as a support group for gay and lesbian asylum seekers.
At that meeting, men outside the centre told the undercover reporter that the scene was not what it appeared to be. One man, Fahar, said, “Most of the people here are not gays. ” Another, Zeeshan, said, “Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0. 01% are gay. ”
One adviser named in the inquiry
The reporter’s path into the group began in late February with contact made to Mazedul Hasan Shakil, a paralegal at Law & Justice Solicitors, an immigration law firm based in Birmingham and London. The investigation says migrants were being helped to build false asylum claims and coached on how to present them.
The response from the Home Office was blunt. “Anyone found trying to exploit the system will face the full force of the law, including removal from the UK, ” the department said. The warning now hangs over a process already handling record demand, with this group now making up 35% of all asylum claims, which topped 100, 000 in 2025.
What happens next
The findings raise immediate questions about how claims are prepared, who is charging for them, and how widely the practice may have spread. For genuine asylum seeker cases, the central issue remains protection from real danger; for those suspected of fraud, the next step may be enforcement action, removal, and deeper checks on the advisers involved.
