SIR Keir Starmer has sparked backlash from the Bengali community in Islington after he singled out Bangladesh as an example of where people who came to the UK illegally needed to be returned.

At a live-streamed event organised by The Sun on Monday, the Labour leader (above) spoke animatedly about how he would “get planes going off” in response to a question about whether people who did not secure the right to stay in the UK would be deported under a Labour government.

He said: “I’ll make sure we’ve got planes going off. They will go back to the countries where people come from. That’s what used to happen. At the moment, people coming from countries like Bangladesh are not being removed because they are not being processed.”

He did not mean repatriating people from Bangladesh already living here but the decision to single out one country caused confusion and upset.

Shadow cabinet minister Jon Ashworth also used only Bangladesh as an example when talking about immigration on Newsnight this week.

Merium Bhuiyan, whose parents emigrated from Bangladesh to the UK in the 1980s, said the Bengali community in Islington had been “shocked”.

“We feel very offended,” Ms Bhuiyan said. “It’s out of order, there’s no thinking or rationale behind it. I’m really shocked, saddened and bewildered.”

She added: “There’s a huge Bangladeshi community in Islington and London. We are hardworking, we’ve been around for ages, we’ve contributed so much, and instead of thanking us for our contribution and valuing our input, we are now under the microscope for reasons unknown.”

Ms Bhuiyan added: “It feels like an attack and something that’s come out of nowhere.”

Mohammed Kozbar, Chair of Finsbury Park mosque, said the comments were “really offensive” to the Bangladeshi community, as well the Muslim community more generally .

He said: “Many of our members from the Bangladeshi community approached us with anger and frustration because of these comments and are concerned about the consequences of these comments on them as individuals and their families and communities.

“If I heard it from Nigel Farage or Reform, I would understand it, but to be said by the leader of the Labour party who usually are not that hostile to migrants … is upsetting.”

Mr Kozbar added that the Mr Starmer, who will likely become the prime minister next week, needed “to do something about it to reassure the community”, adding: “There should be an apology.”

Green councillor Benali Hamdache added that it was “deeply troubling” to see the Labour leader single Bangladesh out.

“Bangladesh is not a country that is safe for everyone. It is an authoritarian regime,” he said.

“Keir Starmer should apologise for this dogwhistle and this misinformation that Bangladesh is the source of a lot of rejected refugees.”

He added: “To be frank, why was he even on the panel with The Sun anyway?”

Jeremy Corbyn, the independent candidate for Islington North, said: “It is appalling that any political representative would scapegoat refugees and migrants to fuel division and fear.”

While out on the election trail, Mr Starmer said yesterday (Thursday): “I certainly wasn’t intending to cause any concern or offence to any Bangladeshi community here.”

Unedited footage of his comments are being screened on The Sun’s YouTube channel.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Keir has proudly supported the Bangladeshi community across the UK, who make an enormous contribution to our country. Keir is referring to Labour’s long established policy of returning those who don’t have the legal right to be in the UK to safe countries.

“Bangladesh was only used as an example, as there is already a bilateral agreement between the two countries.”