Asylum seeker chaos as whistleblower exposes how terrorists and criminals are allowed in
A whistleblower from the Home Office has come forward with serious claims about chaos inside Britain’s asylum system, warning that things must change before “more people are injured or killed.” She revealed that caseworkers are being pressured to approve asylum claims from people, even those with criminal records, as long as their offences wouldn’t normally result in a prison sentence of 12 months or more.
The whistleblower, who spoke to The Telegraph, said she was disciplined for refusing to approve an asylum application from an Afghan man who had been arrested several times for exposing himself in children’s play areas. She said it was shocking that despite such behavior, he was still granted asylum. According to her, this is not an isolated case — she claims that terrorists, extremists, and dangerous criminals have also been approved to stay in the UK.
She explained that many migrants come from “high grant-rate” countries — meaning their asylum applications are more likely to be approved — and staff are under pressure to process them quickly. These countries currently include Afghanistan, Eritrea, Kuwait, and Sudan. She noted that Eritrea is on the list because returning people there would breach human rights laws, due to forced military service in that country.
The whistleblower added that some migrants from other parts of Africa are lying about their nationality, pretending to be from Eritrea because they know it guarantees them a better chance of staying in Britain. “It’s a joke,” she said. “We sit there asking how this can be allowed. Before Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, most Afghan asylum applications were refused. But after the Taliban takeover, we were told to reassess them — and to grant asylum, no matter what.”
She said one of the first cases she had to review was an Afghan man flagged in police databases for repeated indecent exposure in children’s areas. When she refused to approve his claim, saying he was a danger to children, her manager told her she couldn’t reject it simply because of his behavior. The manager explained that he couldn’t be sent back because he claimed to have been politically active against the Taliban. “All he needed was one anti-regime post on social media,” she said, “and suddenly he’s protected.” She stood her ground and refused to approve the claim — but was disciplined for it. The case was then handed to another worker who approved it.
The whistleblower said that this approach has left many staff members disillusioned and frustrated. They feel powerless to act properly because of political and bureaucratic pressure to keep acceptance numbers high. “We’re browbeaten,” she said. “We read in the press that we’re useless, but we’re not. The ones doing the job are trying our best. It’s a lose-lose situation.”
Official figures show that 111,084 people applied for asylum in the year up to June 2025 — the highest number since records began in 2001. That’s a 14% increase compared to the same period in 2024 and nearly double the number in 2021. The largest groups of applicants were from Pakistan (10.1%), Afghanistan (7.5%), Iran (7.0%), and Eritrea (6.7%). Around 51,000 asylum appeals are currently pending, and decisions are taking an average of one year to process.
The whistleblower also said that many asylum seekers change their stories repeatedly to avoid being deported. She gave an example of an Iranian man who first claimed he was politically persecuted in Iran. When officials found no evidence of that, he changed his story, saying he had converted to Christianity. But when questioned about basic details of the religion, he didn’t even know what Easter represented. Later, after being refused again, he made a new claim saying he was now homosexual — which created yet another barrier to removal.
According to her, this cycle keeps repeating — known among staff as “the asylum carousel” — where applicants keep changing their claims just enough to delay deportation for months or even years. Each new claim means the government must continue to provide housing and financial support while the case drags on.
A spokesperson for the Home Office responded to the allegations, saying that the department takes all concerns seriously but does not agree with how the whistleblower portrayed the system. They insisted that the UK’s asylum process includes strong safeguards and checks to ensure only those genuinely in need of protection are granted asylum. The spokesperson added that the government is changing the law so that anyone convicted of sexual offences will no longer be able to receive asylum in the UK.
The whistleblower’s revelations have sparked renewed debate about the country’s asylum policies, with critics arguing that the current system encourages abuse while overloading honest caseworkers. The story has added to growing public concern about Channel crossings and immigration control, as nearly 37,000 people have already crossed the Channel this year — an increase compared to previous years.
Behind the statistics are real people — some fleeing genuine danger, and others exploiting the system. But for those working inside it, the whistleblower’s words paint a troubling picture: a broken system struggling to balance compassion, safety, and justice, while ordinary staff face punishment for doing what they believe is right.
