UK may deport chef wrongly branded as sex offender

A BANGLADESHI who was wrongly identified as a sex offender may be asked to leave the UK.

Saiful Islam, 44, is facing the threat of removal from Britain despite court ruling that the authorities wrongly linked the Asian with three other people’s criminal records.

British officials were also unable to produce any proof to show any wrongdoings by the south Asian during court proceedings against him.

Islam has no criminal convictions after he reached the UK in 2003 to work for a restaurant with valid legal documents.

The south Asian was threatened with removal from the UK after two restaurants exploited him by withholding bulk of payments and forcing him to work for over 17 hours in a day, along with physical harassment.

The chef has undergone a long legal battle with 18 court cases for over a decade in a bid to prove his innocence and the right to remain in the UK.

In the latest development, on December 20, 2019, a court rejected Islam’s right to remain in the UK.

The court’s ruling came despite the finding that the Home Office wrongly served him with a notice curtailing his visa in 2005.

The court also failed to consider that he was wrongly linked with other people’s criminal convictions.

The upper tribunal Judge Jackson of the immigration chamber identified a number of errors on the part of the Home Office.

He noted that issues with a work permit application made by another employer on Islam’s behalf in 2008 meant that he did not qualify for leave to remain in the UK.

The officials argued the chef had entered the country illegally despite having valid documents.

Meanwhile, Home Office officials issued a full apology to Islam in 2019.

The Home Office stated in an email to him that he had been wrongly recorded as a sex offender.

The electronic communication from the British officials further admitted that police national computer checks on Islam’s file pertained to three other people.

Islam said: “The Home Office has treated me worse than a dog. I am a victim of a scandal and of race discrimination. I have lost so many years, I’ve lost my health, I’ve lost so much money. I’ll never get this time back but I’m determined to fight on.”

Home Office said it can’t comment on Islam’s case at the current stage.

Despite moves to ask him to leave Britain, the Home Office has also offered £5,000 compensation to Islam for its errors.