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Our article of the week (see below) in this newsletter is about Abu Wadee, a Palestinian, whose social media posts strongly point terrorist links. He was among 235 migrants picked up by Border Force (BF) in the Channel on Thursday 6th March and taken to Dover, from where, they would have been transferred to Manston for first-stage processing. After a preliminary examination and registration, they are dispersed around the country, often to hotels, to await placement in longer-term accommodation and a further interview. A long wait follows before they know the outcome of their asylum claim, for which nearly all of them apply.
On Saturday, the Mail on Sunday approached us with the Wadee story and asked if we would write a commentary for the next day’s edition. At that point, we were not aware of the whereabouts of Wadee, although we were confident he was in the UK.
On Tuesday came news that Wadee had been arrested on Sunday evening at a hotel in Manchester being used for asylum seekers: we assume he was taken there by BF following first-stage processing at Manston. The Home Office said, “Abdulkarim Al-Gassas ,also known as Abu Wadee, has today been charged with knowingly arriving into the UK without leave and has been remanded in custody.” Wadee later appeared at Manchester magistrates’ court where he pleaded not guilty to the charge. He was told he would remain in custody until a further appearance at Maidstone crown court on 8th April.
Thanks to Wadee’s malign bravado on social media – posing with some seriously nasty looking weapons – it seems it was relatively easy for those who devote their time to keeping an eye out for people like Wadee to track him down. But why did it take a tip-off to the Mail on Sunday and a front-page splash to alert our authorities of who was in our midst? Would he have been identified had the MoS not drawn attention to him? BF were clearly unaware of who he was or would have charged and detained him while he was at Manston. He had after all applied for asylum in Greece, Germany and Belgium where it was rejected. One assumes that the French knew this and were unconcerned.
We are told the Home Office will look to send him back to one of the countries he hada pplied for asylum in, no doubt because we know the French would refuse to take him back. Good luck with that one Ms Cooper. This is of course assuming that our courts don’t judge that his human rights must override whatever potential risk he poses to British citizens. Let’s not forget that this man has revelled in his social media notoriety. His social media feeds show him proudly declaring he is a member of the “tyre-burning unit”. He wants to destroy the Jews and all who help them.
We don’t know if Wadee has claimed asylum and if he has, how long it will take to reach a decision. Will he remain in custody until the decision is made? Given the evidence against him, which he can hardly deny, making a decision should, surely, take only hours rather than days or months. And once, what we believe, is the obvious decision to make, will he be returned to France and will the French accept him back? If not, why not? Many members of the public will struggle to understand why he can’t be returned to Gaza; he can hardly claim he would suffer persecution there. More likely he will be welcomed back a hero and feted.
However, as he was led away from Manchester magistrates’ court at the end of the hearing, Wadee is reported to have said: “I’m a victim of Hamas. I’m wanted by Hamas; I have evidence of that.” So, don’t be surprised if our courts decide to believe him, because the Home Office won’t be able to disprove Wadee’s claim, or indeed because Gaza would be considered unsafe. What he will of course get is legal aid (i.e. the taxpayer will pay) to appeal against any decision to refuse or remove him. If this man is allowed to stay, whether or not his asylum application is rejected, the resulting public disbelief and anger will be understandable.
But, what we find especially concerning is that had the Mail on Sunday not been informed about Wadee’s arrival, and drawn attention to it, Wadee could well have been wandering around among unsuspecting citizens. This prompts the question, how many people like Wadee have slipped through in recent years – and not just in dinghies we know about? How many young, fighting-age men from countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan… are here now and shouldn’t be? How many more will come from Gaza? We can only hope that they don’t only come to light when they’ve committed some heinous crime.
Over 4,000 have crossed Channel illegally so far this year. At this rate we will top the 2022 total of 45,700. 50,000+ in 2025 is not looking so outlandish at the moment. And that’s just those we know about. And then there’s the three quarters of a million net migration…
It really is the stuff of nightmares.
This is a preview of Migration Watch’s free weekly newsletter. Please consider signing up to the newsletter directly, you can do so here and will receive an email copy of the newsletter every week as soon as it is released.