UK minister loses job over sex-for-asylum scandal

UK minister loses job over sex-for-asylum scandal

TANYA and randy James Dawute

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By Staff Reporter

BRITISH Home Secretary John Reid was forced to reshuffle his ministers Monday night after a Zimbabwean teenager blew the whistle on a sex-for-asylum scandal at Britain's biggest asylum processing centre.

In the emergency reshuffle, immigration minister Tony McNulty lost his job and was moved sideways to take over as policing minister, previously held by Liam Byrne who takes over from McNulty.

Zimbabwean support groups who have been working with asylum seekers celebrated McNulty's ouster, describing him as "deeply prejudiced" against Zimbabwean asylum seekers.

Reid faced a barrage of questions from MPs on Monday, a day after the 18-year-old Zimbabwean woman -- only identified as Tanya -- went to the newspapers with the story of a senior immigration officer who asked her for sex in return for a speedy processing of her asylum claim.

The allegations centre on the activities of James Dawute, 53, a chief immigration officer at Lunar House, Croydon, South London, who is alleged to have made contact outside office time with Tanya.

In conversations recorded by The Observer newspaper, the officer is reported to have said that he knew “how to win her case”. He is reported as telling the young woman: “I am going to make love to you.”

Her allegations are particularly embarrassing because two months ago the Home Office completed an official inquiry into similar claims at Lunar House, an IND office that deals with inquiries from the public, after similar reports in The Sun. It found that there was no systematic sex-for-visas racket.

Zimbabwean campaign groups have expressed profound dissatisfaction with McNulty, and his ouster was celebrated as an opportunity to engage new officials on how to deal with Zimbabwean asylum seekers.

One Zimbabwean immigration lawyer said: "Our problem with McNulty is that he hasn't done much for Zimbabwean asylum seekers. So many representations have been made to his office, including a request for Zimbabwean asylum seekers to be allowed to work while their asylum claims are being processed because of their unique situation.

"McNulty has always insisted in his personal capacity that it is safe to return Zimbabwean asylum seekers home. He was deeply prejudiced against Zimbabweans."

The lawyer added: "The final straw was when he authorised officials from his department to arm-twist British-funded NGOs in Zimbabwe to back the Home Office's contention in the AA case that Zimbabwe is a safe destination to return asylum seekers."
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