Afghan Migrant Delivers Assaults to Kent Homes

Shafiullah Rasooli, a 29-year-old Afghan national illegally in the UK, groped two women at their front doors during takeaway deliveries in Maidstone, Kent, on July 3 and July 26. Prosecutors detailed how he stepped into one victim’s home, commented on her age and solitude, then ran his hands over her breasts and upper body while smiling. The court rejected his defense that such contact constituted a cultural goodbye from Afghanistan.

Rasooli operated under his friend’s delivery registration, evading scrutiny in a system that tracks food couriers loosely. His immigration application to remain in the UK had already been denied, marking him as an overstayer. Yet he continued working in residential areas, accessing private homes without checks.

Kent police identified and charged him with three counts of sexual assault. On October 1, Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court found him guilty on all counts. The case now moves to Canterbury Crown Court for sentencing, delayed until at least December 3.

One victim recognized Rasooli from a prior delivery two weeks earlier. The assaults left her paranoid; she installed CCTV and security lights at her home. She lost her job due to sleepless nights, fearing his return, and described her house—no longer a safe place—since he knew her address and phone number.

The second assault followed a similar pattern, with Rasooli invading personal space under the guise of service. Prosecutors noted his remand in custody stemmed from lacking a residence, compounded by his immigration status. Uncertainty lingers over whether immigration authorities will detain him post-sentencing.

This incident exposes gaps in the UK’s asylum and border enforcement. Rasooli entered as an asylum seeker but overstayed after rejection, slipping into informal work amid a national shortage of delivery drivers. Home Office data from 2023 shows over 50,000 asylum decisions pending, with enforcement targeting only 10% of overstayers annually.

Delivery platforms like Uber Eats and Deliveroo rely on self-reported identities, with minimal verification against immigration records. A 2022 government review found 20% of such workers in irregular status, yet no integrated database flags them during operations. Rasooli exploited this, turning a legitimate job into a vector for crime.

Women in suburban Kent now question doorstep interactions. National crime statistics from the Office for National Statistics indicate sexual offenses rose 20% between 2019 and 2023, with stranger assaults up 15%. Migrant-linked cases, though not systematically tracked by nationality, appear in isolated reports like this one.

Institutional responses remain fragmented. The Home Office deported 3,500 failed asylum seekers in 2023, a fraction of the 100,000-plus backlog. Local courts, as here, remand suspects but defer to overstretched immigration services for removal. No minister has resigned over these lapses since the 2010s coalition era.

Cross-party failures compound the issue. Labour’s 1997-2010 governments expanded asylum routes without bolstering returns, hitting 80,000 claims yearly. Conservatives since 2010 promised “hostile environments” but delivered net migration of 745,000 in 2022. Both sides prioritize economic pressures over enforcement, leaving citizens exposed.

Social trust erodes in these encounters. Polling by Ipsos in 2024 reveals 62% of Britons view immigration as a top concern, citing safety fears. In areas like Maidstone, where asylum hotels house 1,000 claimants, community cohesion frays as locals install defenses against unknown visitors.

The victims’ experiences highlight a deeper vulnerability. Ordinary women, ordering meals in familiar neighborhoods, face imported risks from unchecked borders. This is not isolated; similar assaults by overstayers occurred in Leeds and Birmingham in 2023, per court records.

Power structures benefit from inaction. Delivery firms cut costs with unregulated labor, contributing £10 billion to the economy yearly. Politicians avoid crackdowns to evade accusations of xenophobia, perpetuating a cycle where enforcement yields to optics.

UK governance once managed migration through decisive acts, like the 1905 Aliens Act limiting inflows. Today, laws exist but application falters, with 40% of asylum appeals succeeding on procedural errors alone. Functional control would integrate work permits with real-time immigration checks, barring access to homes.

This case lays bare the UK’s border dysfunction as a direct threat to personal security. Women in quiet towns bear the cost of systemic neglect, while governments of all stripes recycle unfulfilled pledges. Britain’s decline manifests in these doorstep violations, where state failure turns everyday routines into hazards.