Afghan refugee standing as Tory says: Priti’s right on immigrants
A REFUGEE who arrived in Britain in the back of a lorry and is now standing to become the first Afghan Tory councillor has backed Home Secretary Priti Patel’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Darius Nasimi, 22, who hopes to make history in next year’s local elections for Hounslow Council in West London, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I don’t always support what Priti Patel says but I think there should be good border controls and that other countries in Europe must take more refugees.’
Mr Nasimi’s parents fled Afghanistan in 1999 after the Taliban seized control, and he was born during their nine-month journey across Europe.
‘They’re not all fleeing persecution or conflict’
After they paid people smugglers to get them into the UK, Mr Nasimi arrived in Dover along with his two older sisters in a refrigerated truck.
Immigration officers found their hiding place, but the freezing tenhour ride from Belgium had left the family clinging to life and they were rushed to hospital for treatment. They were later granted asylum and became UK citizens in 2004, settling in London.
Last year Mr Nasimi graduated in philosophy from King’s College, London, and has recently been helping Afghan refugees who were evacuated earlier this year. He said the portrayal of the Conservative Party as being anti-immigration was wrong, adding: ‘The Tories push you to do something, not just receive benefits that make you lazy and keep you away from work or business. That’s why they are the best party for migrants like me.
‘I also like the focus on British values, the rule of law, democracy and individual liberty.’
Despite his background, Mr Nasimi supports Ms Patel’s tougher stance on cross-Channel migration – so far this year more than 26,000 people have arrived in small boats.
‘Illegal immigration is an ongoing problem, but at the same time there needs to be some kind of controls and we need to reduce the pressure on the Government,’ he said. ‘Some people are coming to the UK for economic reasons. They’re not all refugees fleeing persecution or conflict. I think border control is very important.’
The Government has been criticised for its handling of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, but Mr Nasimi said he felt only gratitude for the 15,000 people who were airlifted to safety.
He currently works for the Afghanistan And Central Asian Association, a charity founded by his father, Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi, which has led efforts to provide assistance to Afghans who were evacuated in August.
Dr Nasimi, 54, a father-of-four, said he fled Afghanistan over fears the Taliban would kill him because he was a scientist with liberal views who had been educated overseas.
The family’s journey to Britain took them via Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and Belgium.
They were then packed inside the lorry by traffickers in Antwerp.
Two of Mr Nasimi’s three sisters work for the Government. Shabnam, 30, was last week appointed as policy adviser to Victoria Atkins, the new Minister for Afghan Resettlement. Rabia, 27, a Cambridge graduate, works as an adviser in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.