The Greens have criticised the BBC for exposing the lies migrants are telling about their personal lives in order to have their asylum claims approved.
In a surprise attack on the corporation, the Greens on Thursday accused it of worsening the already ‘hostile environment’ faced by those claiming asylum.
It followed the BBC revealing that migrants are falsely claiming to be gay, victims of domestic abuse or to have bogus medical conditions to stay in the UK.
In some cases, law firms and advisers are charging thousands of pounds to advise migrants how they can claim to be gay and in fear for their lives if they return to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Immigration services commissioner Gaon Hart, who oversees the regulation of immigration advisers, said there was ‘abhorrent abuse of the system’ and a minority of advisers were damaging the reputation of the sector.
The Government has launched an investigation into asylum seekers lying about their sexuality or being victims of domestic abuse, branding the practice ‘shameful’.
But the Greens turned on the BBC for trying to ‘heighten the hostile environment facing those claiming asylum’ through its reporting – despite a third of Britons thinking the broadcaster has a Left-wing bias.
‘We are disappointed the BBC failed to put this report in context, showing the challenges those genuinely claiming asylum face,’ a Greens spokesman said.
‘When they give so much prominence to the report, stretching it out over multiple days of reporting, it ceases to be in the public interest and instead serves to heighten the hostile environment facing those claiming asylum.’
The spokesman added that the report ‘gives an entirely false impression of a system which is, in reality, stacked against people seeking asylum’.
But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The Green Party do not understand the immigration crisis.
‘Repeatedly they ignore the concerns of the public and want a world without borders. It is an extreme, dangerous fantasy. Vote Green, get chaos.’
It comes after the Greens were criticised for saying they would spend more on foreign aid than on defence.
Other policies that have been roundly criticised include calls to reduce the speed limit on motorways to 55mph, and the legalisation of all drugs.
An analysis of the Greens’ immigration policies found that the UK’s population would increase by 4.4million in five years.
