‘Indian Sikh family charged with masquerading as Afghans to claim asylum in Britain’ | World News

TOI correspondent from London: After being refused UK visas twice, a Sikh Indian family stands accused of masquerading as Afghans fleeing the Taliban-ruled country to enter the UK and falsely claim asylum, according to the UK’s MailOnline.
The family were initially successful; after landing at Heathrow airport and claiming to be Afghans, they were put up at taxpayer expense at the Holiday Inn hotel in Wembley with other asylum-seekers. Recently they moved to a £567,000 four-bedroom detached house in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. They have now been charged with multiple immigration offences for pretending to be Afghan after home office records showed they made two previous visa applications as Indian nationals using official Indian passports. Both visa applications were refused, MailOnline reported.
They made their first appearance at Croydon magistrates’ court on Dec 4 where they were provided with Dari and Punjabi interpreters, according to MailOnline.
The charges state that Gurbakhsh Singh (72), his wife Ardet Kaur (68), their son Guljeet Singh (43) and his wife Kawaljeet Kaur (37), arrived at Heathrow airport on Dec 23, 2023 and sought to obtain leave to enter the UK “by means including deception, namely claiming asylum as Afghan nationals” when on two previous visa applications they had presented themselves as Indian nationals.
Seeking to enter the UK by deceptive means is a breach of the Immigration Act 1971.
They are also charged with making false immigration statements which is a breach of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The charges state that at Heathrow, in order to get the support that asylum-seekers are entitled to, they made false representations and requested for asylum as Afghan nationals. They are also charged with knowingly entering the UK without leave.
The family pleaded not guilty to all the charges and have elected trial by jury at Croydon Crown Court commencing Jan 2, MailOnline reported.
In 2023 Indian nationals were the third largest cohort to claim asylum in the UK, numbering 4,487, with an asylum grant rate of 8%, whereas Afghans were the largest cohort at 7,512 with a grant rate of 99%.
A home office spokesperson told TOI: “Where there are concerns of abuse of the asylum system, we ensure that these are thoroughly investigated and appropriate action is taken.”
India was added to the UK’s list of safe countries of origin in Nov 2023. That law came into force in April 2024 meaning that asylum claims from Indian nationals are now deemed inadmissible, with no right of appeal, unless there are exceptional circumstances.