A man wanted in connection with an alleged rape in Germany was reportedly allowed to leave and return to a controversial migrant accommodation site for almost two months, according to a new undercover investigation.
Aref Sadeghi, a 36-year-old Iranian national, was arrested earlier this year at Crowborough training camp in East Sussex after authorities discovered that he was wanted by German officials.
However, an ITV documentary claims that camp staff permitted Sadeghi, who was staying under the name Ali Sadeghfar, to travel freely in the surrounding area before his arrest.
There is no indication that the company operating the site or its employees knew about the allegations against him.
Inside The Asylum Camp, scheduled to air at 10.15pm tonight, features undercover footage recorded inside the former army base. The site has been converted into accommodation for as many as 540 male asylum seekers awaiting decisions on their applications, despite strong opposition from local residents.
Large protests have been held amid concerns that men whose backgrounds have not been fully checked can move in and out of the site. Campaign group Crowborough Shield has also begun legal proceedings challenging the Home Office’s use of the former military base.
The programme portrays what it describes as a casual approach to camp procedures, including brief welfare assessments. It also documents the extraordinary measures some residents say they have taken to monitor safety, including using drones to track people leaving the site.
The documentary also examines the conduct of certain protesters after a dental practice reportedly stopped treating migrants following a threat to set the surgery on fire.
Crowborough training camp in East Sussex, where wanted Iranian rape suspect Aref Sadeghi, 36, was reportedly allowed to come and go
Crowborough Asylum Camp is featured in the ITV documentary Inside The Asylum Camp
The broadcast follows Housing Secretary Angela Rayner’s decision to approve plans for a former military site near Piddington, Oxfordshire, to house more than 1,200 asylum seekers. Critics of the scheme are preparing a legal challenge.
An ITV reporter gained access to Crowborough by taking a job with Clearsprings Ready Homes, the company contracted by the Home Office to provide accommodation for asylum seekers.
Clearsprings is owned by Graham King, a billionaire who has been nicknamed the ‘Asylum King’ because his business is said to generate £3.26 million each day.
The undercover reporter was employed to conduct welfare checks on residents, a process the documentary suggests is often handled inadequately.
In the footage, officials appear to spend only seconds on some assessments, asking questions such as, ‘Head OK? Body OK?’ before moving on. One migrant filmed during the investigation was apparently not offered access to an interpreter.
In a separate incident, a migrant believed to have tuberculosis reportedly left medical isolation by climbing through a window.
Sadeghi appeared in court after his arrest and is now facing extradition proceedings in Germany. The specific details of the alleged offence have not been released.
An ITV reporter obtained footage of Crowborough after taking a job with Clearsprings, the company contracted by the Home Office to provide migrant accommodation (Pictured: A Crowborough resident speaks with the undercover reporter)
Inside The Asylum Camp airs after Angela Rayner (pictured) approved plans to turn a former military site in Oxfordshire into accommodation for more than 1,000 asylum seekers
Speaking through an interpreter at the hearing, Sadeghi confirmed that he opposed being extradited. His representative, Euan Macmillan, told the court: ‘If he returns to Germany, the partner of the person who made the allegation will be looking for him and has threatened to kill him. There are issues surrounding his mental health…
‘He is an asylum seeker in this country, he’s from Iran, and he suffers from post-traumatic stress.’
Mr King’s company has expanded rapidly during the small boats crisis. His Essex-based business reportedly recorded turnover of almost £1.2 billion and post-tax profits of £37.7 million. His personal fortune has been estimated at £1 billion, making him Britain’s first asylum accommodation billionaire.
A Clearsprings Ready Homes spokesman told ITV: ‘Welfare checks at Crowborough are conducted regularly and in line with the relevant standards.
‘We reject the suggestion that welfare officers carried out inadequate checks, that the site is understaffed or that employees cut corners to meet monthly targets. There is no safeguarding risk.’
He said staff carry out checks every two weeks, despite the Home Office requiring them only once a month, and added that the department had ‘raised no concern about either their frequency or quality’.
He continued: ‘Translation services are available whenever they are needed and requested. We are not aware of any failure in this regard. Individual rooms are used to isolate people with infectious diseases.
‘We have no record of anyone jumping from windows.’