An asylum seeker housed at a migrant camp in Wethersfield, Essex, has prompted deportation calls after photos emerged of him posing with assault rifles. Loghman Chakobi arrived in Britain illegally in June 2024 and was accommodated at the camp, thought to be the largest in the country.
Photos show military clothing and rifles
The images, believed to date from his time with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, show Chakobi in military clothing carrying what appear to be assault rifles. The group's Peshmerga force has been fighting the Iranians for decades and is not banned in the UK.
Former Metropolitan Police officer Steve Morris said the asylum seeker's claim should be "processed as an emergency" after the photos surfaced. He told The Sun: "Anyone with paramilitary experience is a big red flag in my view."
Previous court appearance
Chakobi previously appeared as a victim in a court case, when fellow asylum seeker Rena Rasul was cleared of assaulting him in a dispute over late-night noise at the Wethersfield camp.
Home Office response
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We conduct mandatory security and background checks on every asylum claimant. We will never hesitate to use the full range of powers and tools available to safeguard national security where it is lawful and appropriate to do so."
The development comes as recorded Channel crossings hit their lowest rate since 2021, with 20,935 arrivals so far this year. This marks a 42% decrease from the same period last year and 19% less than in 2023.
Tensions over small boat arrivals have heightened in recent months as migrants began appearing on Hampshire's shores, more than 100 miles west of the narrowest Channel crossing point near Dover in Kent.
Reform UK has pledged to take drastic measures to curb crossings, including putting the Navy in the Channel and letting Royal Marines use "lethal force" against those arriving without permission. The party's Treasury spokesperson said Britain has a "gaping hole" in its borders while announcing the plans earlier this month.
He told Talk: "We want to see these individuals picked up off the boats in a sensible and reasonable way and taken straight back to France. And I think the problem would come to an end very, very quickly, you know, within a matter of days."
The proposal attracted criticism from Labour, with chairwoman Bridget Phillipson describing it as "disgusting and illegal". She added: "Our armed forces are not going to start opening fire on unarmed civilians, and Reform are dragging their own reputations and credibility in the gutter by suggesting it."
Pressed by former Tory minister Dame Caroline Dineage on the arrival of migrants in Hampshire, Mr Burnham told the Commons that people arranging small boats were "changing their tactics" because the Government's co-operation with France had been a "success". He said: "We will be relentless in changing [our tactics] to make sure that they don't succeed. It's precisely because we are succeeding in reducing the number of boat crossings that they are having to try different routes."
