France: LGBT refugee campaign welcomes government's international LGBT support

Source: ARDHIS

[Google translation] 

Idaho - International Day against Homophobia ARDHIS involves the Rama Yade on asylum LGTB people

On 18 December 2008, Rama Yade, French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, launched a strong signal to the United Nations a question: "In the dawn of the XXIst century, how can we accept that people are hunted down, imprisoned, tortured and executed because of their sexual orientation? And promoting the universal decriminalization of homosexuality that she has one of the main tasks of its mandate.

The ARDHIS (Association for the Recognition of rights of homosexuals and transsexuals in the Immigration and Residence) welcomes this commitment but would like to remind that Rama Yade universal decriminalization of homosexuality must pass through the granting of refugee status for people who have suffered persecution in their country because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

If ARDHIS was pleased that last year, that status was granted to applicants from Bangladesh, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Mauritania, Russia, Cameroon, Kenya. .. but she pointed out that this status is almost never granted by OFPRA during the initial request but primarily after an appeal before the CNDA.

The ARDHIS regrets that many officers are not trained for the specific applications for asylum filed by LGBT people and that processing of these requests is often subservient to prejudices. Thus, if not the expected profile of an "activist who takes direction with confidence and ostentation, an asylum seeker LGBT risk of his application for protection rejected on the grounds that the story of its history has been found not true!

Worse still: the ARDHIS wishes to point out that some presidents of the jury of the CNDA have a frankly homophobic. Homophobic comments have been made by a President of the Court against an Afghan in February.

Meanwhile, the ARDHIS condemns the lack of access to temporary residence permit and social rights arising as a particular accommodation. Without papers, without money and without housing, daily life becomes a constant struggle in a country where they came for protection!

Finally, as many associations for the protection of human rights, condemned the ARDHIS list of so-called "safe home", which contravenes the provisions of the Geneva Convention regarding non-discrimination of asylum seekers depending on their country of origin, it also condemns the fact that in this list are countries where homosexuality is still considered illegal: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mauritius, India, Mali, Mongolia, Senegal, Tanzania.

Accordingly, ARDHIS urges the withdrawal of the list of so-called "home safe." It also calls for the establishment of a training of OFPRA essential to an awareness of the specificity of applicants for asylum because of persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity.