Emad Al Swealmeen should not have been in Britain

Emad Al Swealmeen, who blew himself up in a taxi outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, is not believed to have been identified by security services as a terror suspect. Nevertheless, he should not have been in Britain. He lied about where he had come from, which ought to have been a red flag, enough in and of itself to warrant his return to his home country. Indeed, his application for asylum was rejected in 2014, but he was never removed.

Instead, he reinvented himself as a Christian convert, gaining himself time and grounds for appeal and last Sunday, on Remembrance Day, he attempted to commit what could easily have been a devastating attack. Only a closed road, the fact that the bomb partially detonated and the bravery of the taxi driver prevented a dramatic death toll.

Why does it take so long to remove failed asylum seekers from Britain? At present, there are around 40,000 people in this country who are ‘subject to removal action’, meaning their asylum claims have been rejected. Some will be flown back immediately, but more often than not the Home Office’s attempts to deport them are frustrated by long delays, numerous appeals and administrative incompetence.

Britain’s asylum system was one of the many casualties of lockdown. As the government machine slowly ceased working, claims stopped being processed and waiting times soared. Before the pandemic, the list was shamefully long: some 29,000 were waiting more than six months to have their case heard. This figure has now almost doubled to 54,000.

Even in cases where there is an obvious risk to national security it can take years before someone is removed from this country. Look at the bungled deportation of the radical cleric Abu Qatada.