The number of alleged asylum seekers granted permission to stay in Britain under European human rights laws after claiming to be homosexual has hit an all-time high.
A record 2,133 migrants were granted asylum in Britain last year under European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) rules surrounding sexual orientation. This rose from 762 the year before and 677 in 2021, The Telegraph reports.
According to the broadsheet, the British Home Office, the department tasked with regulating immigration, accepted their asylum claims after they successfully argued that being sent back to their homeland would put them at risk of persecution for their sexuality and, therefore, have the right to stay under the ECHR.
Migrants from Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Pakistan saw the most successful claims. While fewer in number, 100 per cent of claims launched by migrants from Afghanistan, El Salvador, Syria, Eritrea, Myanmar (Burma), Libya, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Yemen were accepted last year.
Although the UK left the European Union in 2020, both the Conservative and the current Labour governments have refused to withdraw from the ECHR and its associated court in Strasbourg, which are technically separate institutions from the EU despite sharing the same campus, flag, anthem, and general ethos.
The UK’s continued membership has been hotly debated, given the European court’s intervention in domestic British immigration policy. Migrants also often appeal to the ECHR to avoid deportation from Britain.
The growing number of migrants claiming to be homosexual and appealing to ECHR rules has also drawn scepticism, with some asserting that spurious claims may be used to subvert the asylum system.
Chairman of Migration Watch UK Alp Mehemet said: “While it’s impossible to be sure of the genuineness of applicants claiming asylum based on their sexuality, there are too many examples of our being too ready to give the benefit of the doubt.”
Last year, an undercover investigation from the Daily Mail exposed pro-open borders attorneys as being willing to fabricate evidence to assist illegal migrants in claiming asylum in the UK.
The investigation found that lawyers were willing to forge medical documents attesting to invented trauma and to invent fake backstories such as homosexual relationships to make up the “fine ingredients of an asylum case”.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “It is important we clear through the asylum backlog and provide protection to individuals fleeing persecution.
“Our processes are underpinned by a robust framework of safeguards and quality checks, ensuring that claims are properly considered, decisions are sound, and that protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.”
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