AN asylum support group in Worcester said it has taken immediate action after a ‘community contact’ was caught advising an undercover reporter to pose as gay to gain asylum.
Worcester LGBT said it has removed a legal adviser who was recorded telling an undercover BBC reporter he could apply for asylum by claiming he was gay.
After being told he wasn’t gay, she said that to live here ‘that is the very method everyone is adopting’.
A BBC reporter was contacted out of the blue by the adviser after they spoke to Worcester LGBT founder and chairman Mazedul Hasan Shakil.
She goes on to admit to faking asylum claims for the last 17 years. Her services would have come at a cost of £2,500., according to the report
Worcester LGBT said it categorically denied accusations of fabricating asylum claims and had immediately suspended Khan.
Group members were told to leave immediately if they were attempting to misuse the network.
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Mr Shakil said: “When the individual contacted me, I spoke with him briefly and told him clearly that he would need genuine grounds to claim asylum and that he did not appear to have any.
“I subsequently passed his contact details to [the adviser] in her capacity as a community contact for Worcester LGBT, for the purpose of connecting him with community peer support.
“I had no knowledge at any time that she would offer to help anyone fabricate an asylum claim.
“Had I known or suspected anything of that kind, I would not have made the referral and would have reported the matter immediately.
“When the concerns raised by the BBC came to my attention, Worcester LGBT acted immediately.”
He said a formal internal investigation was opened on April 8 and the adviser was suspended from all association with the organisation pending its outcome.
She failed to provide written responses to a series of questions by 5pm on April 13 and was removed from Worcester LGBT with immediate effect.
Mr Shakil pointed out she had no decision-making authority within the organisation, no access to membership records, and no involvement in drafting or signing any letter.
“Worcester LGBT does not fabricate, encourage, or support false evidence of any kind.
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“On 30 March 2026, before the BBC made contact with us, Worcester LGBT reported a forged document bearing our name to the Home Office Direct Communications Unit.
“We also filed a report with Action Fraud.
“We have made three separate submissions to the Home Office about these matters. We do not wait to be asked before reporting fraud. We report it ourselves.
“Worcester LGBT was founded to fill a genuine gap. There was no dedicated community support network for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers who needed peer support, someone to talk to, and help navigating an isolating and frightening process.”
