EXCLUSIVE: A whistleblower from the East Midlands has claimed three teenage asylum seekers disappeared on a trip funded by another migrant on the south coast.
Darren Jennings blew the whistle when he became concerned about goings on in an asylum hostel. (Image: Rowan Griffiths)
Asylum accommodation whistleblowers have claimed three teenage Iranian asylum seekers went on holiday to their home country to visit family and enjoy watersports despite claiming to have fled because of persecution. Three Kurdish-Iranian asylum seekers returned on holiday to their country of origin on separate occassions funded by another migrant, two housing workers told the Express.
After a spate of trips last year by teenagers from accommodation in Derbyshire, East Midlands, the two former employees of housing provider Framework claimed their concerns about the young men, who’d all arrived in Britain by small boat, were “brushed aside.”
Whistleblower Darren Jennings felt treated like a ‘racist’ for having concerns about the trips. (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)
Housing officer Darren Jennings, 50, claims he was “made to feel like a racist” after deciding to blow the whistle on the holidays, which involved watersports and Eid celebrations.
“If you’re saying you’ve left the country because it’s unsafe and then you’re choosing to travel back there it doesn’t make sense,” he told the Express. “The countries they said they were going to have a history of terrorism, people smuggling and drug [trafficking].”
During his monthly check-ups for an asylum seeker accommodation facility, Jennings was concerned when one resident failed to answer his door. He claims the man had returned to Iran to visit his family in April last year for around two months. This, Jennings claims, prompted another Iranian resident to inform him of his plans to go back.
The housing officer, who resigned from his position at Framework in July last year, felt this represented a serious safeguarding issue, not least because they has said the trips were being funded by another migrant seeking asylum in Britain, though he does not know the identity of this individual.
“These were people who were skint, on benefits but were saying ‘we’ve got the money’ from some mysterious individual willing to pay for it,” he added.
“I have a daughter the same age and if s he came to me and said ‘somebody I barely know can pay for me to go to Ibiza for two months’ I’m not letting her go. I’m certainly thinking there’s something going on there.”
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson responded to the Express’s findings by saying anyone holidaying in a country they have fled from should be deported.
“Phoney asylum seekers are endemic in Britain,” he said, “yet, we have a Labour Government that is bending over backwards to provide them with five-star hotel accommodation and benefits – no questions asked. If their countries are safe enough to vacation in then we should be deporting them, no ifs, no buts.”
Another former support worker at the Derbyshire home, Weston Walton, shared Jennings’ concerns for the men’s welfare.
“I knew of three cases where they went on holiday. [One of the teens] went for months, it was bizarre,” Walton told the Express. “When some staff highlighted the safeguarding risk this was brushed aside.”
The teens did not travel together but it is understood they were all paid for by the same asylum seeker whose identity is unknown. The exact dates and the routes the three men took was not shared with the workers.
Walton felt that despite the UK taxpayer paying Framework £370 per week in enhanced housing benefit for every asylum seeker, it did not do enough to check on the residents in person.
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One trip led to another from the men staying at the asylum accommodation (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)
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The majority of interactions between Framework staff and the asylum seekers in their care are made through WhatsApp messages and video calls rather than face-to-face conversations, the Express understands. In a WhatsApp conversation seen by the Express, one of the men, who had shared videos of himself doing watersports with staff, accused another support worker of “letting him down” because they’d “promised not to say anything” after being told housing benefit payments could be affected by his holiday.
“I started like kind of doing a bit of due diligence myself and knocking on doors,” Walton added. “I realized ‘oh my goodness’ who’s checking upon what we do? If we say someone’s there then that just means they are there [when they might not be]. It was a very scary awakening.
“[Framework] were not raising their game to support people in those situations. The [men] were in an extremely vulnerable position,” he added.
Jennings alerted bosses through Framework’s internal whistleblowing process, in addition to other authorities and the police, fearing the mens’ absence could represent benefit fraud.
A Home Office spokesperson said it was the department’s longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases.
“We take all claims of abuse of the immigration system extremely seriously and will not hesitate to take action where necessary,” they said.
Framework said it was unable to comment on individual cases.
However, its Deputy Chief Executive, Claire McGonigle, said in a statement: “These allegations were fully investigated and considered under our Whistleblowing procedures last year. We concluded that all appropriate communication took place with our stakeholders, that appropriate safeguarding responses were made, and that we had shared all relevant information with the local Housing Benefit department.
“We made repeated attempts to engage with the former staff member who raised these concerns both during their employment and after their resignation. They have been unwilling to accept the findings of our investigations and we are at a loss as to what more we can do to resolve their concerns.”
A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said it had no “legal power“ to prevent the trip so “a partnership, multi-agency safety plan was put in place at the time notification to travel was received. Derbyshire has robust procedures to reduce exploitation risks and legally discharges its statutory duty to support children in care and care leavers.”
“The three individuals are all care leavers, over the age of 18, obtained travel documents legally and followed the appropriate Home Office Asylum claim processes,” they added.
A Derbyshire Police spokesperson confirmed an officer attended a meeting in relation to the travel plans of the individuals but that “no criminal offences were found”.
They added that “were there to be concerns about potential criminal matters, then these would be able to be raised through well-established formal channels that exist between local authorities, and other agencies, in the county.”
In relation to the allegation of fraud the spokesperson said: “After meeting with the individual no criminal offences were found to have been reported and no further enquiries were made. It is understood that the individual was not referred to trading standards by the officer that he met with.”
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