A Nigerian businessman is challenging a decision to bar him from Britain, in a landmark public clash over the use of US-style bans on foreign nationals allegedly involved in corruption and other organised crime.
The individual, a 51-year- old who cannot be named for legal reasons, has appealed to an immigration tribunal after receiving an exclusion order like those used in the past against spies and “shock jocks
The travel prohibition is one of more than two dozen of its kind issued since 2007 – some against people who have never been convicted of any offence – as Britain tries to counter criticism that it is a haven for international villains and laundered money.
One law enforcement official said: “The point is quite a simple one: why on earth should we allow these people to come? Provided exclusions are done professionally, and all the details are right, then a message can be sent.”
The banned Nigerian national, known as D1, claims the home secretary acted illegally in scrapping the UK entry clearance he had held since 2006, according to papers lodged at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. D1 claims he was refused admission to Britain in March and put on a flight back to Nigeria after UK authorities told him his exclusion was “conducive to the public good” because of his involvement in “serious, organised criminality”.
Philip Trott, D1’s lawyer, said he had yet to receive details of the case against his client. D1 is seeking a copy of both his Home Office file and information held about him by British missions around the world, the immigration commission papers say.
The matter has cast a rare light on an exclusions policy that expanded during Labour’s last years to cover organised crime, including cases where authorities had suspicions but lacked the evidence to press charges. The idea – echoing similar efforts in the US – is to make it harder for alleged drugs dealers and corrupt foreign officials and businessmen to launder their money through British financial institutions and go shopping in London.
The Home Office said 28 out of the 213 exclusion orders issued since 2007 related to organised crime. It said exclusion policy was under review, although it did not envisage big changes would be made.
Justice, the human rights group, warned that – while Britain was entitled to protect its borders against criminals – it was vital the courts prevented the government taking decisions to exclude individuals “arbitrarily and consequently unfairly”.
Jodie Blackstock, Justice’s senior legal officer, said the barring last year of Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician, “did nothing to demonstrate a fair and sensible policy in Home Office decision-making”.
Lawyers say the D1 case adds to evidence that the British authorities have been using Nigeria-related investigations to test the best ways of dealing with allegedly criminal overseas nationals with ties to London.
One former Nigeria state governor fled Britain after investigators found almost £1m in cash at his London flat.
Another is fighting extradition to Britain over money-laundering charges, after investigators claimed he had bought assets including a house near the Beatles’ old Abbey Road recording studio and a €406,000 Mercedes-Benz from a Mayfair car dealer.
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