Reform UK says it wants to make facilitating a false asylum claim a ‘strict liability’ criminal offence.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage has threatened to jail lawyers who help migrants make false asylum claims in order to stay in the country. It comes after an investigation by the BBC exposed law firms and advisers charging thousands of pounds to help asylum seekers pretend to be gay so they could make a successful claim to remain in the UK.
Reform UK said that if it was to win the next General Election, it would make facilitating a false asylum claim a “strict liability” criminal offence. This means there would be no need to prove intent and would carry a maximum sentence of two years behind bars. Responding to the expose, Mr Farage said: “If you were a corrupt accountant and you got your client to avoid paying tax that they legally should be paying, well, it’s very simple, that accountant can be open to criminal charge.”
Shabana Mahmood said ‘sham lawyers’ would ‘face the full force of the law’ (Image: Getty)
The Reform leader, who was speaking to The Telegraph, added: “The same should happen to this industry that has now sprung up amongst our legal profession, the illegal immigration industry.
“If you’re a lawyer giving illegal information like this to somebody, not only could that person pose a threat to women and girls or even national security, but you, as a lawyer, should yourself be subject to prosecution.”
Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “Any attempt to misuse protections designed for people fleeing genuine persecution because of their sexuality is deplorable.”
They added that anyone found doing so would have their asylum claim cancelled and “find themselves on a one-way flight out of Britain”.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “sham lawyers” would “face the full force of the law”.
Anyone found “assisting unlawful immigration to the UK” can already face sentences of up to life imprisonment under the Immigration Act 1971.
Reform said its move would lower the prosecution threshold and reflect the strict liability provisions that apply to the legal sector, The Telegraph reported.
The BBC also uncovered how migrants are falsely claiming to be domestic abuse victims in a bid to remain in the country.
