Priti Patel Urges Reforming 'Dysfunctional' UK Asylum System Exploited by Liverpool Terror Suspect
05:53 GMT 17.11.2021 (Updated: 15:16 GMT 28.05.2023)
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Emad Al Swealmeen, who died in the blast in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday in an incident that has been declared a terrorist attack, reportedly arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014. Although his application for asylum had been rejected, he remained in the country.
Priti Patel has reiterated the importance of reforming Britain’s “broken” asylum system, saying that the man suspected of having masterminded the Liverpool Remembrance Sunday blast had been able to exploit its failings.
"The case in Liverpool was a complete reflection of how dysfunctional, how broken, the system has been in the past, and why I want to bring changes forward,” the UK Home Secretary told reporters on her flight to Washington, US, for a three day visit. Her agenda includes talks with her counterpart Alejandro Mayorkas and senior members of Congress.
In Washington D.C. today for important talks with our American allies on national security cooperation & tackling online evils. The US is our closest security partner & we continue to strengthen this unbreakable bond.
— Priti Patel (@pritipatel) October 3, 2019
"It's a complete merry-go-round and it has been exploited. A whole sort of professional legal services industry has based itself on rights of appeal, going to the courts day-in, day-out at the expense of the taxpayers through legal aid. That is effectively what we need to change," added Patel.
The UK has been struggling with a migrant crisis that has seen more than 23,000 people reach its shores in small boats crossing the English Channel this year. Some 1,185 arrivals were recorded on 11 November - a record for a single day.
"These people have come to our country and abused British values, abused the values of the fabric of our country and our society. And as a result of that, there's a whole industry that thinks it's right to defend these individuals that cause the most appalling crimes against British citizens, devastating their lives, blighting communities - and that is completely wrong," underscored Priti Patel.
The remarks come as the Home Secretary has been on a mission to “stop 100% of migrant crossings”, touting new legislation such as the UK Government’s proposed Nationality and Borders Bill.
Introduced by Patel, it is described as the “cornerstone” of its new plan for immigration, with the objectives of creating a fairer system that will “better protect and support those in genuine need of asylum”; to deter illegal entry into the UK; and to remove people “with no right to be here”.
Measures proposed in the bill include introducing a maximum life sentence for those convicted of people smuggling and giving the Border Force new powers to stop and divert vessels suspected of carrying illegal migrants. The bill would also allow asylum claims to be processed outside the UK, similar to Australian-style offshore centres.
UK Border Force officials travel in a RIB with migrants picked up at sea whilst Crossing the English Channel, as they arrive at the Marina in Dover, southeast England on August 15, 2020
© AFP 2023 / BEN STANSALL
In October, Priti Patel claimed that seven out of ten people crossing the English Channel were "not genuine asylum seekers" and the government was "concentrating" its efforts on "creating safe passage for genuine refugees".
"In the last 12 months alone 70% of the individuals who have come to our country illegally via small boats are single men, who are effectively economic migrants. They are not genuine asylum seekers," she told the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.
Remembrance Sunday Blast
Priti Patel’s strongly-worded statement on the need to reform asylum policies came as the investigation continues into the Liverpool blast on Remembrance Sunday.
UK counter terrorism police have named Emad al-Swealmeen, a Middle Eastern asylum seeker with possibly mental health issues, as the suspected terrorist who blew himself up outside Liverpool Women’s hospital.
The suspect is believed to have brought a homemade bomb with him into a taxi and asked to be taken to the hospital shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday. His motivation is not yet clear.
As the car, driven by local cab driver David Perry, reached the hospital's passenger drop-off point, it exploded.
CCTV footage showed Perry stumble out, while the suspect died in the blast. Perry was treated in hospital for sustained injuries and has since been discharged.
The suspect in the incident, Emad Al Swealmeen, is understood to have arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014. His application for asylum was rejected, nevertheless, the 32-year-old remained in the country.
He attempted to gain legal permission to stay in the UK, but it was rejected as well, according to a BBC report. The Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber was cited as confirming that Al Swealmeen had sought to lodge an appeal after losing his case in a lower court that reviews Home Office decisions. However, this attempt was refused as a judge concluded there were no grounds to overturn the decision. This decision is believed to have been made in early 2017.
It is currently not clear if the Home Office ever informed Al Swealmeen he would be deported from the country or whether, indeed, any steps had been taken to do so.
As counter terrorism police probe the motives behind the bombing, one issue being considered is whether the suspect was driven by an "unsolved grievance" with the Home Office over his bid to become a UK resident in 2014, a source was quoted by The Sun as saying.
He talked about Jesus passionately —Christain couple who opened their home to Liverpool suicide bomber, Emad Jamil Al Swealmeen explains pic.twitter.com/CTAjAW911p
— Naija (@Naija_PR) November 16, 2021
Former Liverpool Cathedral lay minister Malcolm Hitchcott, and his wife Elizabeth offered Al Swealmeen a place to stay for eight months from April of that year after he had told them he had lost his case and was destitute.
According to Hitchcott, Al Swealmeen was a Christian convert who was baptised at the cathedral in 2015.
“He lived here for eight months, and we were living cheek by jowl. There was never any suggestion of anything amiss,” Hitchcott was cited as saying.
The retired senior British Army soldier added that he was aware that some asylum seekers might pretend to convert to support a false claim of asylum.
As the investigation continues, with four men arrested under terrorism laws after the blast released without charge, an Islamist plot is believed to be one line of inquiry considered by police.
On Monday, Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said the property at Rutland Avenue near Sefton Park - the address where Al Swealmeen was picked up by the taxi before being driven to the maternity hospital - was "becoming central to the investigation".
Statement from Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, Counter Terrorism North West
— Locally.News (@LocallyNews247) November 16, 2021
The investigation into the explosion at the Liverpool...https://t.co/feV8pY7hqQ@gmpolice #crime #terrorism #statement #northwest #liverpool #women #hospital #explosive @CrimestoppersUK #threat pic.twitter.com/DpwIvko4Jr
The UK terror threat level has since been raised from substantial to severe in an indication that an attack is "highly likely" rather than "likely".
