MP asks 'how can you grant asylum to a man without knowing where he is from?'

An MP has questioned how it is possible for an asylum seeker to be granted asylum without be certain where they have come from.

Jim Allister made the comments this week after the PSNI said this week that the man accused of the north Belfast knife attack last month might actually be from a different country than originally thought.

placeholder image — A general view of an airport arrivals sign; the north Belfast suspect was said to have come from Africa to France, then to Ireland, then to Northern Ireland (photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

The suspect was said to have travelled via France into the Republic of Ireland, and then by bus to Northern Ireland, where he was granted refugee status (asylum) and given five years’ leave to remain in the UK, until 2028.

The PSNI had said on June 9, the day after the stabbing, that the suspect was “believed to be Somalian”.

Within a few hours, the PSNI had then said: “As our investigation has progressed, we can also confirm that the man in custody is Sudanese and not Somalian, as initially believed.”

Then on Tueday this week, July 7, Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck told MPs in Westminster that he may in fact be from a different African country, Chad, which lies immediately to the west of Sudan.

“We do continue to investigate the origins of the male with one potential line of inquiry indicating that he may potentially be from Chad and not Sudan, as was initially indicated, and we continue to investigate that line of inquiry with the relevant authorities in Chad,” he said.

TUV North Antrim MP Mr Allister said: “The shocking police admission that Hadi Alodid, the foreigner accused in the notorious north Belfast knife attack, may be neither from Somalia or Sudan, as first claimed by the PSNI, but possibly from Chad, illustrates the utter breakdown in the UK immigration system.

“How do you grant asylum to someone you can’t be sure as to who they are and where they came from?”

His comments were put to the Northern Ireland Office, which referred the News Letter to the Home Office in London, which in turn declined to comment.

Alodid (30, with an address in Duncairn Avenue, north Belfast) appeared in Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday this week, where he was told (via an Arabic translator) that his case will be handled by the Crown Court.

He is charged with attempted murder, possessing a bladed article, and engaging in threatening or abusive behaviour.

The case was adjourned until August 5.