As we reported earlier, it is believed Abdul Shokoor Ezedi – the man suspected of carrying out the chemical attack in south London – was granted asylum after two failed attempts, having reportedly travelled to the UK on a lorry in 2016.
He was granted asylum despite being convicted of a sexual offence, which has led to Conservative politicians calling for reform – see our previous case post.
But Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director has told Sky News that asylum applications should be decided on the potential harm they face in the country they came from.
“The right way for the system to work is to focus on determining whether the person who has made a claim is at risk in the country that they’ve come from,” Steve Valdez-Symonds said.
“The fact of his having had a conviction in the past… doesn’t tell me anything about whether he would be tortured or persecuted in the place that he came from,” he added.
“It might tell us something about whether there were other things that needed to be done to ensure other people’s safety or his own in view of that conviction.”
It is understood Ezedi, who is believed to be from Afghanistan, was convicted of a sexual offence in 2018 and given a suspended sentence.
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed he was sentenced on 9 January of that year after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure.
‘There should be protections’
Mr Valdez-Symonds said it is “undoubtedly true” that asylum seekers – like every other human being on the planet – include people who do “very serious things” and this attack is “absolutely horrific”.
“And, of course, there ought to be systems in place in our country to providing as much protection to all of us as is possible,” he said.
“But we take the position in this country and elsewhere around the world that it’s simply wrong to send people to places where they would be tortured and persecuted.”
He added: “None of that is incompatible with taking other steps to try and ensure everybody’s safety.
“We’re not in the business of punishing people for offences on top of our criminal justice system by sending them off somewhere else to be tortured.”
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