Fake death threat letters produced by the Taliban are being used to dupe the Home Office in asylum applications for Afghan migrants. The Telegraph has the story.
A Telegraph investigation can reveal how corrupt officials in Afghanistan produce government letters threatening to kill asylum seekers. The letters are then used as evidence in asylum applications.
To demonstrate how easily such documents can be obtained, an undercover Telegraph reporter paid Taliban officials £40 to produce three fake letters from different regional offices on official headed paper, signed by local administrators.
The letters can be published in full, but have been redacted to protect sources.
They include warnings that the Taliban will “deliver justice upon you” — shorthand for execution — for co-operating with the “evil government of England”.
One letter says: “The mujahideen monitor all your activity on social media and will deliver justice when they see you. God will be pleased and you will be freed from this shameful life.”
The practice of purchasing fake letters raises fresh questions about the integrity of the asylum system and whether genuine refugees are being disadvantaged by forgeries.
Multiple migrants housed in Home Office hotels and Taliban officials in Afghanistan told the Telegraph that the use of fake letters is widespread.
In one case, a rejected asylum seeker said they submitted a fake letter in an appeal as evidence of facing danger in Afghanistan.
The new application was then approved, although it is not clear if the letter was the only piece of evidence that judges took into account.
Hellbound and Down 