An Afghan migrant who was granted asylum in the UK after claiming his homeland was too dangerous has sparked controversy by returning there for an eight-week summer vacation.
The case involves a TikTok user known as DG Usama, who made international headlines in 2022 when he documented his journey from Afghanistan to the UK via small boat, sharing videos of his Channel crossing with thousands of social media followers.
The Original Journey
Usama’s migration story began in April 2022, when he was among 2,143 people who crossed the English Channel that month. He filmed himself aboard the overcrowded dinghy, wearing a red life jacket and grey headscarf, smiling at the camera alongside fellow migrants.
In his social media posts, he documented being rescued by an RNLI vessel, adding techno music to the footage and captioning one video “This is the Afghan tigers!” Another post declared “Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) now I am in UK.”
His social media activity revealed he had traveled through multiple safe countries before reaching the UK, including France (Paris, Calais, and Annecy), Switzerland, and Bulgaria – visiting at least three nations where he could have claimed asylum.
Asylum Status and Return Trip
After arriving in the UK, Usama successfully obtained asylum status by convincing officials that Afghanistan remained too dangerous for his return. The exact date of his asylum approval remains unclear, but it occurred sometime between his April 2022 arrival and summer 2024.
However, in summer 2024, Usama embarked on an eight-week holiday to the very country he had claimed was unsafe. He extensively documented the trip on social media, sharing relaxed photos and videos from various Afghan locations.
Holiday Documentation
His vacation content included visits to Band-e Amir, Afghanistan’s famous “Blue Heart” – a UNESCO-nominated natural park in the Hindu Kush mountains featuring six deep-blue lakes. The site attracts nearly 200,000 tourists annually, and Usama joined other visitors swimming and boating in the crystal-clear waters.
He also filmed a convoy tour through Takhar province in northwestern Afghanistan and shared footage of himself enjoying an orange raft ride on one of the lakes, complete with heart emoji captions expressing his affection for the location.
The return journey was equally well-documented, with Usama filming his departure flight via Dubai, wearing Emirates-branded headphones and capturing footage of Dubai International Airport. He captioned his return clip simply: “Back to UK.”
Official Response
Following media coverage of Usama’s holiday, the Home Office launched an investigation into his asylum status. Government guidelines typically prohibit asylum seekers and those granted protection status from returning to their claimed countries of persecution.
Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick criticized the situation, stating: “Illegal migrants like this must be laughing at how naive the Government are. He should never have been allowed back into the UK after he apparently holidayed in Afghanistan. If Germany are regularly removing illegal migrants from Afghanistan back home, why aren’t we?”
A Home Office spokesperson responded: “Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, where there is evidence of someone holding protection status returning to their country of origin, it will trigger a review of their status.”
Current Context
This case emerges as small boat crossings continue to reach record levels. By this week in 2025, 32,103 migrants have crossed the English Channel – the highest number recorded for this point in any year.
Usama’s social media suggests he has remained in the UK following his Afghan holiday, with recent posts showing him in Rotherhithe, southeast London.
The case raises questions about asylum system oversight and the monitoring of protection status holders, particularly regarding travel to countries they claimed were too dangerous to inhabit.
