'Sex for visas' claims to be investigated

[razrif]

Simon Jeffery
Tuesday January 3, 2006

The Home Office today announced that it is to investigate claims of a sex for visas racket at its main immigration centre in Croydon, south London.

According to the Sun newspaper, a former employee at the centre, Anthony Pamnani, alleged that corrupt officials gave women leave to remain in return for sex. He claimed more attractive female applicants were given preferential treatment.

The Home Office minister, Tony McNulty, said he had every confidence that staff in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate had caried out their roles "with professionalism and integrity", but said the allegations were serious and would be investigated.

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"Until the outcome of that investigation is known, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further, but clearly I will not condone this type of behaviour amongst staff," he said.

The paper reported that Mr Pamnini, 23, said he had left his job Lunar House, in central Croydon, after four years, disgusted at the behaviour of his colleagues and that his complaints about the alleged corruption had been ignored.

He said one woman had been given indefinite leave to remain after an admin officer slept with her at her flat, and a colleague had boasted of his sexual exploits with a visa applicant.

The paper reported him as saying: "Brazilian girls were treated best of all. If male and female migrants came in to extend their visas, the guy would get one year and the girl two - even if both had the same level of paperwork. The girl would only have to smile, bend over the desk and she'd get longer.

"Officers used to say about ugly girls: 'She's bloody disgusting - let's send her back anyway'."

The whistleblower also told the Sun that vital security checks on immigrants were not carried out. He said that in "many cases" passports had not been checked to ensure immigrants had no previous convictions and were not wanted abroad.

"It was lazy, because they only had to walk a few yards and swipe it through a computer reader," he added.

[voltaires_priest]

Urgh that's really grim. Exploitative bastards



V

[aswad]

[Nims]

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