Libyan soldiers who sexually assaulted women while training at Bassingbourn Barracks have been released from prison and are seeking asylum, Cambridgeshire police has confirmed.
Khaled El Azibi, Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi and Mohammed Abdalsalam were involved in sex attacks in Cambridge in October, and after being released from prison are now looking to resettle in the UK.
District councillor for Bassingbourn Nigel Cathcart said it was a cause for deep concern in the area.
He said: “We need to be very careful indeed. Because of its previous history, Bassingbourn has been disturbed by what’s happened there. It all happened very recently. It goes back to the whole failed policy in the first place.
“I would be very concerned if they were granted asylum. Many of them said they didn’t understand their responsibilities in the English legal system. They said they weren’t familiar with how to behave.”
Carolyn Aldis echoed Nigel’s view, tweeting: “This is unbelievable and completely unfair.”
Matt Pearson tweeted: “My word, my country is crazy for even considering this.”
A Bassingbourn villager who did not wish to be named said: “It adds further insult to the victims and an insult to our community.
“It’s a message that it’s a free for all for anyone in this country to commit a crime and be subsidised by the state to fund their living.
“They should go back and serve a longer sentence in their own country. If our military did that in another country they wouldn’t be able to seek asylum.”
County councillor for Bassingbourn Adrian Dent said: “When they were put away, the government said they would deport them immediately. It’s a human right to apply for asylum, anybody can, but if you are a convicted felon you should be deported. They could say they can’t go home because they are under threat, but they were here with the armed forces. I’m slightly put out that they have been given the right to apply but I assume that they will be denied.”
After the damage caused to the victims and the wider community, should this be considered? Email news@royston-crow.co.uk.
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