Two Eritrean nationals wanted in connection with an alleged gang rape in Denmark were granted refugee status and placed on taxpayer-funded support after entering Britain illegally — despite an international police alert carrying their names and photographs having been issued before they arrived in the country.
Awedin Fikak and Henok Tekleab, both aged 27, have since been extradited to Denmark to face trial. But the circumstances of their time in Britain — during which both men received asylum status, accommodation, and financial benefits — have prompted sharp questions about the effectiveness of cross-border information sharing within the UK’s asylum processing system.
The case has its roots in an attack in Aarhus in August 2024, in which a 37-year-old woman was allegedly held against her will in a flat and subjected to a gang rape lasting approximately six hours. The assault was filmed by those involved. The woman eventually escaped. Danish police moved quickly, charging and convicting one man — a 33-year-old Eritrean national who received a three-year prison sentence and a permanent deportation ban. Identifying the remaining suspects took longer, requiring analysis of CCTV footage from a nearby convenience store.
By September 2024, East Jutland police had issued an international warrant for Fikak and Tekleab, complete with photographs. At that point, however, both men had already left Denmark and made their way to northern France.
Fikak crossed the Channel on 5 October 2024, arriving among 973 migrants who made the journey that same day, according to proceedings at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Tekleab followed by a similar route. Court records indicate that Fikak was granted refugee status within roughly six months of his arrival and received both accommodation and financial assistance. Tekleab obtained asylum and benefits after his own dinghy crossing.
A source with knowledge of the case told reporters that while Danish authorities had circulated the alert through proper channels, the Home Office had no awareness of it at the point the two men entered the asylum system. Under current arrangements, asylum support is automatically extended once a claim is processed.
Fikak’s extradition was not without resistance. When arrested in Birmingham earlier this month, he sought to challenge the proceedings by arguing that his right to a family life — protected under human rights law — would be violated by his removal, pointing to his brother’s residence in London. District Judge Michael Snow rejected the argument and approved the extradition. In his ruling, the judge noted that Fikak had entered the country illegally, had been resident for approximately one year, was living in shared accommodation, and was unemployed and receiving benefits at the time of his arrest.
Tekleab had been arrested the previous December and was extradited in February. Fikak was flown to Copenhagen on Thursday.
A Home Office spokesman said that those who commit serious crimes have no place in the United Kingdom and confirmed that both individuals had been returned to Denmark to face the legal process.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the case as demonstrating that the government had lost control of Britain’s borders, arguing that the failure to detect an active international warrant during asylum processing represented a significant breakdown in the system.
Both men now face proceedings in Denmark in connection with the alleged attack. The case is expected to draw further parliamentary scrutiny over the mechanisms by which Interpol and European police alerts are cross-referenced against asylum applications as they are processed.
