The Home Office granted indefinite leave to remain to an Afghan migrant who fled Austria on bail for rape allegations, with the asylum decision made despite him using four different identities and five separate dates of birth on official documents.
Omar Ali Noori, 31, was arrested in Linz in 2018 over allegations he raped a woman but arrived in Britain in 2019 after being released on bail and fleeing the country. The Home Office granted him indefinite leave to remain in 2023 despite his criminal history, with his 23-year-old wife later joining him in Britain.
The series of errors only came to light during extradition proceedings when Judge Neeta Minhas described Noori as a “fugitive” and revealed he had lied about his criminal past during the asylum application process. The judge stated: “Noori was directly asked if he had committed or been accused of an offence in any country or whether he had been detained in any country. His response to both questions was in the negative. This was clearly not accurate.”
Records revealed Noori provided multiple false identities and dates of birth across official documents, with the Home Office failing to detect the fraud or identify his Austrian criminal proceedings before granting him permanent residency status in Britain.
Judge Minhas continued: “I find that Noori is a fugitive.” She ordered the 31-year-old be extradited to Austria to serve his prison sentence following his conviction for the rape allegations that originally led to his 2018 arrest.
Noori is currently being held at Wandsworth Prison and is set to launch an appeal against the extradition ruling. The Afghan national’s challenge will delay his return to Austria to face justice whilst extending his time in Britain despite the fraudulent asylum grant.
His wife’s ability to join him in Britain following the successful asylum application demonstrates how family reunification provisions allowed her entry based on status obtained through fraud and false representation about his criminal history.
A Home Office spokeswoman stated: “This individual’s extradition proceedings are ongoing. We review individuals’ immigration status should new information come to light that it was obtained through fraud, false representation, or concealment of a material fact.”
The spokeswoman added: “We will not allow foreign criminals and illegal migrants to exploit our laws. We are reforming human rights laws and replacing the broken appeals system so we can scale up deportations.”
The case comes days after Afghan asylum seeker Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, was found guilty at Warwick Crown Court of abducting, raping and taking indecent video of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton. Mulakhil targeted the girl last July and initially denied two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, abducting a child and taking indecent photographs of a child.
Since October 2021, more than 35,000 Afghan nationals have claimed asylum in Britain. In addition, over 37,000 have been granted permission to stay through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, bringing total Afghan arrivals to more than 72,000.
The ability to use four different identities and five separate dates of birth whilst concealing a rape arrest and bail flight exposes serious vulnerabilities in the Home Office verification process. The indefinite leave to remain grant in 2023 suggests background checks failed to identify Austrian criminal proceedings from 2018 or the subsequent bail violation.
The Home Office’s reactive approach of reviewing immigration status only after fraud comes to light indicates systemic failures in preventative screening. Noori’s case demonstrates individuals with serious criminal allegations can exploit asylum systems by providing false information across multiple identity documents.
Information sharing gaps between European authorities allowed Noori to establish himself in Britain for four years before extradition proceedings revealed his fugitive status. The Austrian authorities’ inability to locate him until UK proceedings exposed his whereabouts highlights coordination failures in tracking bail absconders across borders.
The pending appeal will determine when Noori returns to Austria, with immigration law allowing asylum seekers to challenge extradition orders through processes extending months or years. His continued detention at Wandsworth Prison represents the only consequence he currently faces for the fraudulent asylum application beyond the eventual extradition.
The government’s stated commitment to reforming human rights laws and replacing appeals systems aims to accelerate deportations of foreign criminals. However, such reforms require legislative changes facing parliamentary scrutiny whilst cases like Noori’s continue exposing current system vulnerabilities.
