Chemical attack in London...

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Nitefly said:
It’s a pretty interesting question raised in this thread: should a criminal conviction affect asylum status? Hmm. Not sure what I think about that! It depends I suppose.

For an application as a working migrant / VISA, that seems a reasonable, yes. For somebody requesting sanctuary (asylum)… it’s probably more important what they are requesting asylum from.

Obviously, it’s a real lose for a country to host anyone that goes on to harm others. But denying asylum just because of a prior conviction without considering the facts would be an improper substitute for proper safeguarding in other ways.
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I think it's an interesting question if the crime was committed in thier home country. Ie should a man woman convicted of being gay in say Ghana be penalised for it when claiming asylum.

I think it's a lot less interesting question when they commit the crime in thier new country before claiming asylum like he did as its effectively proving they are not compatible. (Arrived illegaly 2016, sex offense committed 2018, asylum granted 2021)

Ezedi was convicted of one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure in 2018, before being granted asylum in 2021 or 2022.
He received a nine-week jail term suspended for two years for the sexual assault and, for the exposure, 36 weeks' imprisonment to be served consecutively, also suspended for two years.

BBC News understands that Ezedi arrived in the UK by lorry in 2016, having travelled from Afghanistan.
His suspended prison sentence for the sexual offence, passed down at Newcastle Crown Court, included an unpaid work order.
Once that was complete in 2020, Ezedi was discharged from probation supervision.
His asylum application was twice turned down - the second time was after he said he had converted to Christianity, meaning he would have been at risk if he returned to Afghanistan.
On his third attempt, a priest wrote a letter vouching for his conversion, and his asylum claim was granted.
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JonRGV250 said:
Could it be that immigration are not doing their jobs properly.
There was a picture of one of the immigration offices on Twitter earlier showing "refugees are welcome" stickers plastered all over it.
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Given the amount of scrutiny of decisions, they are made in accordance with law.

Stickers are irrelevant in the decision making process. That's a distraction.

If one wants different decisions, a change is needed to the law. That is a long and hard thing to do.

Personally, i think he's a scumbag. That, however, has no bearing on whether the asylum decision was correct.
 
potatolord said:
That, however, has no bearing on whether the asylum decision was correct.
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Most people would think it does.

1. Convicted sexual criminal.
2. 'Claims' to be a converted Christian (which coincidentally helps his asylum claim).

99% of people will say this was an incorrect decision just based on this. The fact he went on to commit an even worse crime and disfigured several people is just a 'told you so' moment.


I wonder what the priest who signed his Christianity conversion letter is thinking now. 'God works in mysterious ways' maybe.
 
Per-head, a Tory MP is more likely than an asylum seeker to have committed sex offences while claiming to be Christian.

Haven't actually researched this, but it's probably true.
 
Tefal said:
A priest wrote a letter of recommendation and stating he had converted to Christianity.
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I would imagine said priest is keeping a low profile at the moment.

It's mental to think that Christianity it's a mark of good character in this day in age, people of faith have proven that they are just as corruptible as anyone. If anything more so.

Appreciate that he stated he was fleeing persecution (presumably from the Taliban) because of his beliefs.
 
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Pez said:
Thanks - I'm sure that there are cases where this is very much a problem, but feels like a easy get out of jail free card.
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Its complete nonsense isn't it. It is beyond belief how an intelligent professional person can be fooled by someone who claims to have converted to Christianity. Even if he did legitimately convert, then its still clearly only been done to help his asylum claim. So the likelihood of it being a genuine altruistic conversion is next to nothing.
 
Pez said:
Excuse my ignorance, but why does claiming to be part of any religion impact an asylum claim, positively or negatively? Any links to policy?
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Because in some countries simply being suspected of being the wrong religion, or even just the wrong group in the same religion can get you killed.

And risk to life is one of the key factors in claiming asylum.

A lot of asylum seekers are historically fleeing either war, ethnic violence, or religious violence.
 
danlightbulb said:
Most people would think it does.

1. Convicted sexual criminal.
2. 'Claims' to be a converted Christian (which coincidentally helps his asylum claim).

99% of people will say this was an incorrect decision just based on this. The fact he went on to commit an even worse crime and disfigured several people is just a 'told you so' moment.


I wonder what the priest who signed his Christianity conversion letter is thinking now. 'God works in mysterious ways' maybe.
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I don't disagree with your reservations here. I think he is a scumbag and does not contribute positively to the UK.

I'm making the point that, if the decision is undesirable, then the law and asylum/ residency requirements have to change. There would also need to be a workable mechanism on removal of failed applicants.

Without a change to the law, we will see the same outcomes in future cases.
 
potatolord said:
I don't disagree with your reservations here. I think he is a scumbag and does not contribute positively to the UK.

I'm making the point that, if the decision is undesirable, then the law and asylum/ residency requirements have to change. There would also need to be a workable mechanism on removal of failed applicants.

Without a change to the law, we will see the same outcomes in future cases.
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I dont know the in's and out's of the law on this, but is it that prescriptive that there is no discretion in whether or not someone who claims to have converted religion is being truthful?

There are three possibilities for someone claiming to have converted religion.

1. Its genuine.
2. Its all an act.
3. Its genuine but only done to stay in the country.

The odds of it being number 1, especially for a convicted sexual offender, are extremely small. Anyone with half a brain cell can see this.
 
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If he can convert to Christianity to further his asylum claim, then he can convert back to Islam to stay alive in his own country.
I have no doubt nothing will change because of this particular individuals actions.
 
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