I was 11 years old the first time our home in Bangladesh was bombed by Islamic fundamentalists. Policemen – who had escorted the fanatics shouting “death to kafirs (infidels)” as they marched up to our home – stood by and watched. It was evident that they had the government’s blessing and that the attack would be carried out not only with complete impunity but with the active encouragement of the very people whose job it was to protect law-abiding citizens like my parents.

If the hurled fire bombs failed to burn down the bungalow along with its inhabitants, and the boulders showered at it failed to break down the doors, then that would be down to sheer luck. The administration in charge wasn’t going to do a thing to stop a family from being lynched or burned alive. But luck did favour us. We survived that day.

It transpired that, in the aftermath of the bombing, some people had taken photographs of our visibly damaged home and presented the pictures as evidence of persecution against themselves in order to successfully gain asylum in the West. In pre-Google Earth days, it would’ve been fairly easy to get away with.

Outrageous? Perhaps. Certainly deceitful. But people living under regimes which show little regard for the rule of law and human rights are desperate to leave in search of a safer, better life. That is basic human nature, and without such an instinct we may well have become extinct as a species.