Image shared with claim about family in London is 2016 stock photo from Malaysia

A photo is being shared on social media with claims it shows the family of a person called “Khalil”, who supposedly arrived in the UK by boat and is taking the government to court over his family’s housing needs. But there’s no evidence this is a real person, and the photo was actually taken in Malaysia in 2016.

Text overlaid on what appears to be a family photo of 21 people says: “Khalil, who arrived in the UK by boat, is taking the government to court, claiming that they've not met the housing needs of his rapidly expanding family, despite being given a 5 bedroom property in North London. What should be done to help Khalil?”

But we could not find any reports of such a legal challenge, or evidence that the text is about a real person or family.

Moreover, the photo does not show a recent picture of a family in north London. A reverse image search shows it is actually a stock image taken on 5 July 2016 in Pahang, Malaysia, with the description: “Happy big family during Eid Fitr celebration.” There are several other photos of the family taken around the same moment. 

The image has been shared on both Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) with captions including: “Stop all their benefits, take the house back and deport them all of them [sic].” 

As we’ve written many times before, asylum seekers—including those who arrived in the UK on small boats—are not eligible to claim mainstream benefits or social housing, but are provided with some financial support and accommodation if they’re destitute. 

There have been some reports of people who have been granted asylum in the UK, or who have migrated here, being offered or provided with five-bedroom properties by councils.  

You can find more of our work checking claims relating to immigration on our website.