Protesters called for an independent inquiry following allegations by whistleblower Louise Perrett, who worked for the Agency last summer, that there was a culture of racist discrimination within the office.
Amongst her claims Perrett said:
Staff kept a stuffed gorilla, a "grant monkey", which was placed as a badge of shame on the desk of any officer who approved an asylum application.
One official boasted to her that he tested the claims of boys from African countries who said they had been forcibly conscripted as child soldiers by making them lie down on the floor and demonstrate how they shot at people in the bush.
One method used to determine the authenticity of an asylum seeker claiming to be from North Korea was to ask whether the person ate chop suey (which is an American dish).
If a case was difficult she was simply advised to refuse it and "let a tribunal sort it out".
She was given the power to make legally binding decisions on whether asylum seekers were granted or refused asylum after just five weeks' training.
One manager said of the office's asylum-seeker clients: "If it was up to me I'd take them all outside and shoot them."
This audio report by the Welsh Green Dragon website covers the background and speaks with one of the main protest organisers, a Congolese man.
Over 200 people, mostly refugees but also prominent members of Zimbabwean, Congolese, Kurdish and other community groups, attended the three hour demonstration organised by Refugee Voice Wales. It is rare for asylum seekers to publicly demonstrate, No Borders South Wales says: "there has been a justifiable fear amongst people seeking asylum that attending a demonstration would harm their claim".
For a weekday in Cardiff it is quite rare to see a demonstration of that size and the police were clearly stunned by the amount of people there and had to call for reinforcements.
Refugee Voice Wales said that they will be calling more protests every month until there is an independent inquiry, the suspension of all deportations and a review of all cases from the Cardiff office (full list of demands).
Two people, including a MULE editor, were detained by anti-terror police at Heathrow Airport on January 6 after they raised objections to a deportation taking place on their flight.
The pair, Matthew Taylor and Andrew Bowman, chose to leave the Virgin Atlantic flight for Nairobi in protest, shortly before takeoff. They claim the deportee, whose name is unknown, was being forcibly restrained by several plain clothes immigration officers, and was crying out for help from passengers. Having disembarked, they were held under the Terrorism Act by armed police before being questioned by Special Branch.
“The guy was shouting that he would commit suicide if he was sent back to Kenya”, said Bowman, “we took a stand in a peaceful manner, but were treated as if we were trying to blow up the plane.”
With the government seeking to increase removals of ‘illegal’ immigrants and failed asylum seekers, commercial airlines are being contracted to carry deportees and their guards with economy class passengers. Virgin Airlines are heavily involved in the practice, and according to human rights organisations have a history of aiding deportations to unsafe countries. After a campaign by anti-deportation activists to stop the removal of Kemi Ayinde to Nigeria, Home Office plans were scuppered when Virgin Nigeria bowed to pressure and refused to take part in the deportation.
“We do not tolerate the inhumane treatment of any person onboard any of our flights,” a Virgin Nigeria spokesperson said at the time. However, Virgin Airlines continue to help the Home Office with their deportations. Bowman told MULE: “Both of us are opposed to deportations as a political principle. We know that many of the thousands of people deported from the UK each year face immediate peril at their destinations. And we also know that Kenya has a very sketchy human rights record.”
They first noticed the man hidden at the back of the plane, and say he was handcuffed, pinned down by guards, and showing signs of distress. Cabin crew attempted to assure them that “they normally stop screaming once we take off”, implying this was a normal occurrence on Virgin flights. The immigration officers claimed Taylor and Bowman were “threatening them” and attempting to “disrupt a government operation”. They told the men that if they did not “shut up and sit down” they would “get the police on them”.
“I expected people to join us, but everyone seemed stunned. If most people saw a man being roughed up like that on the street, they’d do something,” said Bowman.
On several occasions passenger revolts have led to the cancellation of the deportation attempts, with the pilot bowing to pressure and demanding the immigrant be taken off the plane. This time the deportee was taken to Kenya and the uncertain fate that awaits him there.
Senior Home Office officials will be questioned this week over allegations that women inside Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre were assaulted by staff using riot shields.
The Observer has gathered a series of testimonies from detainees inside the Bedfordshire centre who claimed they had witnessed women being beaten and injured during a disturbance this month.
One image, taken inside Yarl's Wood on a mobile phone, reveals extensive bruising to a woman's shoulder and legs allegedly caused by staff during the incident on 8 February, days after dozens of asylum seekers instigated a hunger strike over the length of their detention. Another image shows injuries to a detainee's finger after a guard had allegedly slammed a window on her hand.
On Tuesday, Lin Homer, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, and John Vine, the agency's chief inspector, are expected to be questioned by the home affairs select committee over the claims, which are denied by staff.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the committee, said: "This evidence is extremely concerning. If the allegations are correct, then it may be appropriate for a police investigation. We are eager to establish what exactly is going on in Yarl's Wood."
The hunger strike will enter its fourth week tomorrow. The allegations of abuse are being examined by London law firms Birnberg Peirce and Fisher Meredith.
Jacqui McKenzie of Birnberg Peirce said: "I have spoken to a client of mine in Yarl's Wood and she has seen the bruising herself from the incident on 8 February. There is an atmosphere of real tension there."
The images of the bruising show the injuries allegedly sustained during the incident by Denise McNeil, a 35-year-old Jamaican, who claims she was hit by staff and, since the disturbance, has been moved to London's Holloway prison.
A Home Office spokesman said that observers from the centre's Independent Monitoring Board had been present during the incident and had seen no evidence to support the claims. He added that CCTV footage had revealed nothing. It is also understood that Bedfordshire police were called to the incident and monitored the situation without taking any action.
A spokesman for Serco, the private firm that runs Yarl's Wood, last night dismissed the allegations as "unfounded and untrue". He added: "The incident on 8 February occurred because our staff intervened to prevent four women from continuing to bully other residents into missing meals."
Participants in the hunger strike claim to have been held in a corridor for more than six hours. Several women claim to have fainted and one to have suffered an asthma attack before several detainees forced open an window and tried to escape before being confronted by guards. Meme Jallow, 26, from Gambia, who has been inside Yarl's Wood for seven months, said: "A girl called Denise was by the windows. One officer took her and hit her by the face."
Another hunger striker, a 37-year-old from Nigeria who asked to remain anonymous for fear of her asylum case being unfairly reviewed, said: "The security went outside and used shields like they do when there is a war. That is what they used to smash one of the women who was outside."
Adeola Omotosho, 44, from Nigeria, who was released from Yarl's Wood three days after the incident, yesterday described how she had been injured during the protest. "The officers closed the window against my finger. It was very painful and I was really bleeding heavily, but they still refused to open the window. So I called an ambulance, but it was not allowed to come in."
Serco sources said that ambulance staff had been allowed on site during the protest but paramedics were not required because the most significant injury was Omotosho's fingernail injury.
A spokesman denied shields had been used to hit or move women and said they had only been placed against the open window in order to "secure the area".
The damaged finger of Adeola Omotosho, a former Yarl's Wood detainee
Many detainees also complained they have suffered racist abuse, which the centre denies. Omotosho added: "Black monkeys is what they call us. They don't like us at all. They tell us to go back to our countries."
Cristal Amiss from Black Women's Rape Action Project, which is supporting the detainees, said: "We have spoken to over 50 women and have heard entirely consistent reports of racist abuse, threats and other violence."
Frances Swaine, head of the human rights department at London law firm Leigh Day, said: "The situation at Yarl's Wood has been getting progressively worse over the past few months, and shows no signs of improvement - and the hunger strike has brought to the fore the real issues."
A number of the detainees said they had been traumatised by the incident, with a letter from one stating that three other women detainees had been caught trying to kill themselves.
Yarl's Wood: A History Of Controversy
Yarl's Wood opened near Clapham on the outskirts of Bedford on 19 November 2001. It is currently the major removal centre for women and families. It has 405 beds of which 284 are for women and 121 for families. The centre has been dogged by problems.
February 2002: The centre was devastated by fire after a riot by detainees protesting after a 55-year-old woman was physically restrained by staff. Five people were injured in the blaze.
March 2004: The Prisons and Probations Ombudsman published a report into allegations of racism, abuse and violence, based on 19 claims made by an undercover reporter for the Daily Mirror. The report found evidence of a number of racist incidents.
February 2006: The Chief Inspector of Prisons condemned the quality of health care for detainees at the centre.
April 2007: Serco took over the complex.
May 2007: Reports of hunger strike involving more than 100 women.
April 2009: The Children's Commissioner for England published a report revealing that youngsters were being denied urgent medical treatment and were at risk of serious harm.
“The current misreporting, based on inaccurate and fabricated statements by those who campaign against our policy, is irresponsible as it causes unnecessary distress to the women at Yarl’s Wood, their family and friends and those who work at the Centre to ensure the detainees are treated with respect.”
Ugandan LGBTI activist, Frank Mugisha, speaks about persecution of gay people in Uganda, and the draconian penalities proposed under the new Bill which will further criminalise and stigmatise homosexuals in that country if passed.
Al Jazeera English is ready for broadcast in Canada thanks to a CRTC decision last November, which heralded the network's arrival as "increasing [the] diversity of editorial viewpoints in the Canadian broadcasting system." While the English network garners lavish praise, gay activists say its Arabic sister network does a poor job of reporting on queer issues.
Al Jazeera is based in Doha, Qatar — making it the only global news service with headquarters in the Middle East.
When Al Jazeera Arabic was started in 1996, it created a paradigm shift in news reporting in the region--what media analysts dubbed the "Al Jazeera effect." Hossein Alizadeh, Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), says: "Before Middle Eastern media covered the news of dignitaries and courts. Al Jazeera revolutionized reporting by providing people on the street space to talk of more serious issues."
While Al Jazeera liberalized media in the Middle East by giving voice to the voiceless and providing an unprecedented grassroots perspectives on political, social and economic issues, it produced a different kind of "Al Jazeera effect" in the West. It distinguished itself with its fearless, independent coverage of wars and occupations in the Middle East. Instead of embedding with invading forces, as did most Western corporate media outlets, Al Jazeera offered an alternative perspective by covering wars from behind civilian lines. It provided a focus on civilian deaths in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the bombardment of Fallujah in Iraq, and what it called "the war on Gaza." To its credit, unlike North America's media, Al Jazeera did not act like a megaphone for the Bush Administration's call for war in Iraq.
In 2007, Al Jazeera added a sister channel, Al Jazeera English, to its network--the channel that is now unconditionally approved as an "eligible service" in Canada (Note that in 2004, Al Jazeera Arabic was approved to broadcast in Canada but the CRTC attached stringent conditions rendering it unattractive for cable companies to carry the Arabic news channel). Today, Al Jazeera English provides strong competition to CNN International and BBC World News with its global South perspective, something which is often missing in North American media.
"I feel Al Jazeera English is a reliable source of information, and I think what they are offering is a perspective from the Middle East region, but the professionalism of the reports, including on [lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans] topics, has global standards," says Alizadeh. "Al Jazeera English is competing in Europe with the BBC, CNN, and the Russia Today 24 news channel, yet it manages to stay competitive. It is offering something."
Asked what Canadians can learn from watching Al Jazeera English, El-Farouk Khaki, the grand marshall of Pride 2009 in Toronto, says it opens up perspectives we might not get otherwise. Khaki says, "a diversity of opinion is always important. Muslims are often seen as a monolith. Anything that diversifies that image is important." Khaki hopes Al Jazeera will further open up those diverse images within Canada and in geopolitical South.
A veil of secrecy also surrounds queer Muslim issues in the West, according to Khaki. "What we suffer from is invisibility in Canada within the larger Muslim community. Some of the more traditional, conservative groups do not recognize our existence."
With the opening of a Canadian bureau Khaki hopes AJE will help break the wall of silence and invisibility in the West. "It should not only cover queer issues ‘over there' in India, but also feminist and queer Muslim issues in the West."
Al Jazeera English regularly reports on gay issues. In recent months, its coverage included:
But Al Jazeera's Arabic network "is not interested in covering gay rights issues the way Al Jazeera English does," says Alizadeh. Comparing Al Jazeera Arabic with Al Jazeera English "is like comparing apples and oranges." Al Jazeera Arabic is geared towards a Middle Eastern audience and does not challenge cultural values or orthodox religion, he says.
Extremist religious viewpoints are expressed on Al Jazeera Arabic's religious talk show 'Shariah and Life.' A number of participants who regularly contribute to Al Jazeera Arabic make negative comments about homosexuality but appear on the channel again and again, he says. This includes Yousef al-Qaradawi, a prominent scholar who is on every other week. While Alizadeh says the cleric has offered some progressive views such as "discouraging government monitoring of citizen behaviour, the right of people to commit sin and the right to privacy," he also promotes anti-gay views — in line with orthodox Islam.
"Al Jazeera and any other network operating in the region," says filmmaker Parvez Sharma, "are very uncomfortable talking about homosexuality in any honest and open way." Al Jazeera Arabic "offers an orthodox religious viewpoint which mirrors any Christian, evangelical website. Expect religious extremism in any religion to present viewpoints that are negative on gay people. What happens in the media is a mirror."
Alizadeh suggests that most Middle Eastern media use negative language in reports about homosexuality. For instance, media in the Middle East tend to frame it as a personal scandal if an actor is gay and claim that homosexuality is a Western conspiracy designed to undermine the social fabric of the Arab world.
Brian Whitaker, a Guardian reporter and the author of Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East, writes in the book: "While clerics denounce it as a heinous sin, newspapers, reluctant to address it directly, talk cryptically of 'shameful acts' and 'deviant behaviour.'"
Whitaker says that when gay issues are mentioned in Middle Eastern newspapers, the focus is typically on same-sex marriage in the West. Moreover, the falsely framed "Western otherness" of homosexuality "can be readily exploited to whip up popular sentiment."
"Al Jazeera English is different," says Parvez. "Its mandate is to project a secular, modern image of the Arab world. In doing that it has a completely different management." The English channel has to compete for a global audience that is more tolerant of homosexuality than the current Middle East. Al Jazeera English, in all fairness, Alizadeh agrees, is a different entity. "They have a different viewership and a different editorial team. The only thing in common is the name and the financial sponsor."
ONCE a fortnight, 50 or so Nigerians furtively log on for an online Bible study class. “This is the only way we can worship because of the stigma,” says one of them. The reason for the secrecy is that the participants, ranging from students to married men, are gay. To go to a mainstream church in Nigeria would risk beatings or even a forced exorcism. So hundreds are turning to House of Rainbow, Nigeria’s only gay-friendly church, which is flourishing online after almost meeting a violent end two years ago.
Many Nigerians strongly disapprove of homosexuality. The dominant role of religion is widely seen as the root of the country’s homophobic culture. Punishing gays is one of the few common themes that politicians can promote with equal zest in the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north. Under federal law sodomy is punishable by a 14-year jail sentence. An even more stringent bill to ban gay-rights groups and homosexual displays of affection is also under consideration.
It is a similar story in many other parts of Africa. Uganda, influenced by evangelical Christianity, has provoked an international outcry over a still harsher bill that advocates the death penalty in certain cases of gay sex, for instance when one partner is HIV-positive. Barack Obama recently called the bill “odious”. In Malawi two men have gone on trial for gross indecency after holding a “traditional engagement ceremony”. The judge refused bail on the grounds that their release might provoke mob violence.
The founder of House of Rainbow, Rowland Jide Macaulay, a gay Nigerian pastor, knows all about anti-gay intimidation. Two years after he set up his church in Lagos in 2006, the project was brought to a halt. Members of his congregation had been beaten and sometimes raped as they left Sunday services in order—said their assailants—to “correct their sexuality”. After receiving death threats Mr Macaulay fled to Britain, from where he now preaches via YouTube.
Undaunted, he is now seeking funds in the West. He wants to start hairdressing and fashion courses to complement Bible study. The exclusion of gays from Nigeria’s mainstream churches can limit their educational chances. Mosques and churches often perform the duties of a state that has all but collapsed in many parts of the country. Muslim movements such as Izala build schools in the north, while Pentecostal groups have set up universities in the south. As Anthony, a 27-year-old bisexual living in Lagos, says: “In Nigeria the church is not just about a spiritual lift...they run our [social] services. If they say ‘We don’t want you’, where do you go?”
The recent murders of two transgender women in Turkey highlight an ongoing pattern of violence and the urgent need for stronger protection measures by the government, four Turkish and international human rights organizations said today in a letter to Turkish authorities. The groups called on Turkey to remedy the conditions that place transgender people at risk from acts of violence by enacting anti-discrimination protections, instituting programs to combat prejudice and hatred, and repealing laws that provide an opportunity for police to harass stigmatized groups.
The letter was sent by Pembe Hayat "Pink Life," Human Rights Watch, the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe), and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
"Protecting people and preventing violence means more than investigating after the fact," said Juliana Cano Nieto, researcher in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights program at Human Rights Watch. "Without meaningful government action to affirm their rights and ensure their safety, transgender people in Turkey will continue to live in fear."
Since November 2008, at least eight transgender people have been murdered in Istanbul and Ankara. The most recent killing was of a transgender woman called Aycan Yener on Feburary 16, 2010, in the Fatih area of Istanbul. Yener, whose legal given name was Feyzi, was killed in her apartment. Her throat was slit, and she was stabbed 17 times. Assailants also stabbed her roommate, Seyhan Özmemiş, 32, who survived.
According to Turkish media, witnesses reportedly observed three people fleeing the scene, but no one has been arrested.
On February 8, Derya Y., a 35-year-old transgender woman, was killed in her home in the Altındağ district of Antalya. Police found Derya Y. in her bedroom with her throat cut and multiple knife stab wounds to her face and body. The targeted killings of transgender women are part of a broader pattern of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Turkey. According to Turkish media, the police found 56-year-old Şinasi Halimoğlu, who had arranged a date with another man, dead on his bed on January 28 with multiple knife wounds to his back and neck.
In the wake of the killings, the police have made efforts to investigate and resolve these crimes. In two of the earlier cases, suspects were caught and prosecuted and sentenced to life in prison, and in two other cases suspects are in pre-trial detention. The remaining murders are being investigated. However, little has been done to protect LGBT people in Turkey, especially transgender people, from future acts of violence, the groups said.
In the letter, the organizations recommended:
Enacting anti-discrimination legislation that includes sexual orientation and gender identity as a legal protection;
Disaggregate statistics on violence figures that show violence against LGBT people; and
Instituting consistent communication between the police and LGBT rights groups.
"All citizens of Turkey, including transgender citizens, are entitled to live without fear of murder or persecution," said Hossein Alizadeh, coordinator of IGLHRC's Middle East and North Africa program. "The homophobic killings need to stop, and for this we need the Turkish government to take concrete action to protect transgender people."
European bodies have called on Turkey, a member of the Council of Europe, and on other states to protect LGBT people from violence. The European Union, to which Turkey is seeking admission, adopted a progress report this month, reminding the Turkish government of the need to safeguard all minorities, including LGBT people. Similarly, in 2009, the commissioner for human rights in the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, urged all member States to enact legislation that would protect transgender people from attacks and violence.
"The Turkish government should stop ignoring demands by Pembe Hayat and other LGBT's in Turkey to take measures to stop ongoing transgender killings," said Kemal Ördek, member of Pink Life. "The Constitution and the Penal Code need to guarantee equality and non-discrimination. The Government in turn needs to stop hate murders against transgender people and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity."
Human rights groups like Pembe Hayat have documented a long history of police abuse in Turkey, as well as violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity by state and private actors. In 2008, Human Rights Watch issued reports on violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and on police violence, including harassment and abuse against transgender people in Istanbul.
ILGA-Europe will visit Turkey in April to assess Turkey's compliance with its European and international human rights obligations toward LGBT people and to document the violence, discrimination, and other obstacles they face in Turkey. The organization has asked the authorities to discuss proposed measures to address the human rights concerns of the Turkish LGBT population.
"Turkey is witnessing ongoing violence and hate against LGBT people," said Silvan Agius, ILGA-Europe's senior policy officer responsible for transgender equality. "The Turkish government's response needs to address the problems at their roots by tackling the severe stigma against LGBT people, social exclusion and poverty on the one hand, and the culture of gender stereotypes that is driving the violence and hate on the other."
Home Office ministers are to opt out of a European directive which lays down minimum standards for the treatment of asylum claims because it would mean abandoning a fast-track process that leads to hundreds of asylum seekers being detained every year.
The decision has been criticised by immigration lawyers and peers who believe the detention of asylum seekers at Yarl's Wood and Harmondsworth removal centres "under the detained fast-track" procedure leads to rushed and unfair decisions because there is no time to gather evidence.
The fast-track asylum procedure was introduced in 2003 and involves immigration officers making an initial decision within two weeks while the asylum seeker is in detention.
Ministers fear the EU directive, which forms a key part of developing a common asylum policy, will also block deportations of "manifestly unfounded" failed asylum seekers before they can appeal. About 150 failed asylum seekers a year are told that lodging an appeal against their claim being turned down will not halt their deportation and they can only appeal once they have left Britain.
A decision to implement the directive would also mean enabling access to legal advice and other help for asylum seekers detained on arrival at port and providing better translation services.
An official impact assessment recently posted on the Home Office website says that it would cost an extra £37m to implement the asylum procedures directive.
"The UK is formally obliged to opt in or opt out of these proposals. If we do not opt in to the procedures, the proposals will not apply to the UK. If the UK opts-in then the proposals will also apply to Gibraltar," says the Home Office impact assessment.
The European Commission says it has introduced the directive to ensure higher and more coherent standards for deciding who should be given international protection across Europe. It lays down minimum standards in deciding asylum claims, including rules on interviewing and appeal rights.
But the Home Office says that in doing so it places restrictions on the use of fast-track procedures to decide asylum claims and restricts the circumstances in which somebody can be deported while still waiting to hear the outcome of an appeal to the courts.
Home Office minister, Lord West of Spithead, told peers that the government cannot accept these restrictions. "Provided those subject to it have access to all the usual guarantees, there is no reason why an accelerated procedure should not be applied to any claim. The new directive would allow this only in certain circumstances; for example, where the applicant comes from a listed 'safe' country," he said.
"That would stop us operating our existing detained fast-track system, which provides fast and fair decisions on the applicants who go through it. It is an excellent way of managing the sort of asylum claims that are capable of being decided quickly."
Alasdair Mackenzie of the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association said: "The process rushes a person through the decision-making process without time to gather the necessary evidence, then sees that person making a fresh claim shortly after the process has ended because the evidence is now available and calls into doubt the original decision."
He said that it was neither a fair, nor an efficient, way to deal with asylum applications.
Human Rights Watch: UK ‘fast track’ asylum system fails women
Women who fear severe human rights abuses if returned to their home countries are not getting fair consideration of their asylum claims under the United Kingdom’s “detained fast track” asylum system, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 69-page report, “Fast-Tracked Unfairness: Detention and Denial of Women Asylum Seekers in the UK” documents how women asylum seekers with complex claims are being routed into a system designed for much simpler claims. The women are held in detention largely for the UK’s administrative convenience, have very little time to prepare a legal case, and have only a few days to appeal if refused. But the claims often involve such sensitive and difficult issues as sexual violence, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and domestic abuse. There is little time for lawyers or other representatives to build the trust with their clients needed for them to explain their claims or to obtain medical or other evidence needed to verify them.
Sharjah: A shocking trend is sweeping across educational institutions in the UAE. It’s called same-sex relationships and it’s worrying officials and parents no end.
A number of students, school employees and others confided in XPRESS that inappropriate intimacy among girls is on the rise on campuses.
“They sit intimately close and touch each other inappropriately,” said Umm Rawan, an employee at the Sharjah University for Women (UOS).
The Emirati woman also had to deal with the demon on a personal level recently – first when her 16-year-old daughter fell for an Indian girl and then when her teenage son started receiving overtures from homosexual male students. Umm Rawan lodged a complaint with the school administration. “I am a divorcee and couldn’t handle these things on my own. I feared my kids would become homosexual so I gave them in the custody of their father,” she recalls.
But Umm Rawan’s startling revelation pales in comparison to the scandalous disclosure made by a girl on Abu Dhabi TV’s Step programme some time back.
Badriya, who prefers to be addressed as Bandar (a male name), shocked television audiences across the nation when she openly spoke of her relationship with another girl, Maha, and expressed the desire to marry her and have children with her through artificial fertilisation. “I love my girlfriend and I want to have children with her,” she said on national TV, adding that she would work to support her family.
Prohibited by law
Homosexuality is prohibited in the UAE and violators face stiff punishment.
Authorities are trying to curb deviant behaviour to better reflect the traditional conservative laws of the UAE. Last year the Ministry of Social Affairs launched an awareness campaign called Excuse me, I am a Girl, directed against what was described as ‘the ‘fourth gender’.
Meant to tackle lesbianism-related issues, the campaign included a series of workshops, TV programmes and lectures at universities and schools and was run by the Sharjah Social Care Centre for Women, an affiliate of the ministry. Samira Al Shair, Security Affairs Officer, Ajman Police, who implemented the campaign at Ajman Educational Zone said lesbianism accounted for 40 per cent of the 70-80 per cent of juvenile delinquency cases reported at Ajman schools.
“I dealt with many cases, almost all of which had one thing in common – the absence of a father,” recalled Samira.
Shocking estimates
Ameenah Ahmad, a UOS student who stays at the university dormitory, said that she estimates that up to one-third of the residents are lesbians. “We were ordered to dress properly even inside the dormitory. Sleeveless dresses and shorts have been banned lately,” she said.
Bakheeta Al Khatri, Manager, women’s dormitory at UOS, which has 8,000 female students including 1,600 in the hostel, denied knowledge of deviant activity, but didn’t entirely rule out the possibility. “If there are such cases, I doubt if the girls involved will talk about it,” she said. But some girls are talking.
Nana Rami, 19, an American University pupil, claims she was approached by a girl during a visit to Sharjah University. “She started flattering my body and sought to seek a relationship, but I turned her down,” said Nana.
Hana Al’adi, a student at UOS also had a similar experience. “Now I exercise caution while interacting with them,” she said.
Dr Alia Ebrahim, a family and educational issues consultant based in Sharjah and Ajman, said there were several factors responsible for the upswing in same-sex relationships.
“Some theories suggest that gender identity disorder, often overlooked by parents and sometimes promoted by discriminating between genders within the family, is a key factor, “ she said.
Other possible contributing factors, she said, could include being the only girl among male siblings, absence of a father figure and sexual assault.
According to Dr Alia, worried mothers have reported many cases of delinquent behaviour at the Umm Al Mo’mineen Society, Family Bonds Consultation Centre in Ajman, which deals with the issue, adding that lack of comprehensive research makes it difficult for experts to estimate exact numbers.
What’s the solution?
The solution, according to Dr Alia, includes gathering accurate statistics and assigning specialised committees to tackle the problem and setting in motion a mechanism to educate students and create awareness.
She also emphasised the importance of revising the curricula and supervising internet use and other technological tools.
In a TV interview, Saudi Arabia-based consultant psychiatrist Dr Tarek Habib admitted that same-sex relationships existed in universities and schools in GCC countries, but insisted that the numbers were fewer compared to educational institutions in other parts of the world. Habib said there are essentially two types of homosexual females; one who feels womanly but is sexually attracted towards girls, and the other who feels manly and trapped within a woman’s body.
He contended that some girls need a specialist therapist and that the issue falls under the purview of medical science and therefore does not need interference from religious scholars.
Scholar speaks
Dubai-based Islamic scholar Shaikh Ahmad Al Qubaisi, speaking on the issue of lesbianism noted that while it is forbidden (haram), there is no specific punishment as per Sharia law. He said Islam considers a woman's status in society to be important and by publicising such cases, the entire family of the woman feels a sense of shame. He advised that such girls be treated discreetly.
Did you know?
According to Samira Al Shair, Ajman police, student delinquency at schools in Ajman stood at a steep 70-80 per cent, with lesbianism accounting for 40 per cent of this percentage.
Characteristics:
The Boya: The first type is the girl who turns to sexual delinquency and plays the boy's role.
The Tomboy: The second type is a girl who is not sexually delinquent.
The Weaker girl: The third type is the weaker, beautiful girl who gets lured by the first type.
The government is rebutting findings of a report about the distress suffered by children being held in Yarl's Wood
Uniformed men break down your door, burst in, shout at your children: "Get up! Get up!" You may pack a few belongings. Your boy needs a wee. The woman in uniform watches over him in case of … what? Your children are in danger and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do to protect them.
Sir Al Aynsley-Green's new report on children banged up at Yarl's Wood has survived government attempts to neuter it – but only just. Having badgered the children's commissioner into stressing the positive, the Home Office yesterday issued a "response to criticism" including direct statements, "not to be attributed as direct statements", that misrepresent the report in order to undermine public confidence in its accuracy.
The Home Office rebuttal asks itself: "Is it true that families where the parents are HIV+ can never be removed and therefore should never be detained?"
And answers: Aynsley-Green "is incorrect. HIV is not a bar to removal".
He didn't say it was. He said it should be.
The Home Office adds: "We do not accept any of the allegations of mistreatment of children by our staff nor do we accept that the care we provide is in any way sub-standard."
Having spotted Wood's weasel memo, I obtained Home Office documents that categorically refuted him, and handed them to the committee. A journalist elicited Home Office comment. No matter. Minister Meg Hillier repeated the misinformation to the House, adding a fresh dodgy line of her own.
"There are many pressures on children, and it is not clear that those pressures and problems arise merely from detention," she said. On the contrary, the doctors said children experienced, "a sudden deterioration in mental health due to the experience of detention rather than any pre-existing problems".
Among Aynsley-Green's interviewees, one parent said her 10-year-old daughter had her head banged against the wall by an officer and, in her distress, the child drank shower gel. Not true, says the government.
Who do we believe? Ministers? Or the children who said about being arrested at dawn: "It's not nice going to the toilet in front of an officer."
"I don't like people seeing me when I'm getting dressed."
"I didn't think it was real, not real life."
"I had 16 fish in a tank and everything, what's happened to them?"
"They broke our house."
The government wants us to believe that locking up families for no good reason (there is no evidence families might abscond) is all right now because Yarl's Wood has had a lick of paint, and the child-catcher's van is no longer caged. Aynsley-Green reports, "a coincident increase in the use of separate vehicles to transport children and parents".
When challenged about prolonged periods of detention – weeks and sometimes months – the government blames parents for stringing it out with vexatious legal challenges. Yet, among those detainees lucky enough to get legal representation, many end up obtaining the right to remain.
The government said families are detained because they refuse to leave. But Aynsley-Green found – and lawyers aplenty can confirm – that families reported being arrested at the same time as being handed a letter telling them that their appeal had been dismissed.
Amid the government's lies and distortions it can be hard to keep a grip on the truth.
Here are some facts – random but true.
Serco nurses filling in medical forms routinely describe children's emotional state as "jolly" and "happy"; the detention centre school is called "Hummingbird House".
Many children are sent unvaccinated to areas where TB is prevalent and measles and malaria endemic. More than a year after Aynsley-Green suggested it, the provision of bed nets was "still under consideration".
About one Yarl's Wood child whose mother had been raped in Africa and was hepatitis B positive, Serco nurses wrote under family history, "nil of note".
A child once had 16 fish that he fed and watched and cared about.
A Ugandan lesbian, known at this stage only as 'SB', has won a case in the High Court against Home Office arguments that she could safely be deported.
The 24 February case before Mr Justice Hickinbottom, which will now go to judicial review, featured strong evidence of the persecution of lesbians in Uganda. The government's defence highlights how the UK asylum system will make every effort including breaking and twisting both rules and evidence to deport lesbians and gays.
It remains to be seen whether the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, will continue to insist that it is safe to return her to Uganda.
Fleeing from Uganda
SB had been briefly detained by police for her lesbianism in September 2003 in Mukono, just west of Kampala (which has ties to Guildford), and again in Kampala in May 2004. Released, she was put on bail but because she had not complied with their reporting conditions she was put on a 'wanted list'.
That November she traveled on a visitor visa to the UK. She overstayed the visa and was discovered during an immigration sweep. Found to have a false Ugandan passport she was arrested and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.
Many LGBT asylum seekers do not immediately claim asylum for a variety of reasons, including shame or simply a lack of awareness that they can claim asylum. False papers are often used to escape oppression but lead to criminal charges.
In June 2008, SB claimed asylum. This was refused point blank by the Home Office: they did not believe either that she was a lesbian or that she had been detained by police.
She appealed before an immigration judge in March 2009 but asylum was again refused on the basis that "there was no evidence that she was at risk of ill-treatment of such severity [once deported] as to amount to persecution."
That judge agreed with the Home Office's case that there was only ever one case of persecution of lesbians in Uganda, which had involved the high profile chair of a gay group. Because, the judge said, SB was "a very discreet person, and had conducted her sexual relationships discreetly in the past - and would continue to" she could be safely deported.
However the judge did accept the fact that she was a lesbian, that she had been detained by the police and ran the risk of being detained again.
She filed another appeal in July 2009 but on 2 November a caseworker issued an order to seize, detain and then deport her.
On 5 November further representations were made which included far more detailed and up-to-date evidence on the position of lesbians and gays in Uganda. But these were again rejected out of hand by the Home Office who plowed on with their drive for deportation.
Justice Hickinbottom described this decision as "irrational".
The evidence
The evidence Hickinbottom had before him came from Dr Michael Jennings of The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Paul Dillane from Amnesty International UK, who works with the AI Office in Kampala, and Dr Chris Dolan, Director of the Refugee Law Project in Uganda, a community project of the Faculty of Law, Makere University.
Dolan The Immigration Advisory Service provided over 350 pages of recent background material. Dolan provided evidence on the treatment of returnees, particularly at (Kampala's) Entebbe Airport.
This showed that there is a check on failed asylum seeker returnees by Ugandan police and that, given the current hostile attitude towards homosexuality, it would be more difficult for SB to bribe her way out of detention (as John Bosco, who was returned by the Home Office, was forced to do), and it's likely that any bribe would be for a considerable sum.
Amnesty International said that her history of arrest and detention would mean she would be “at real risk of harm should she be forcibly returned." Evidence presented of the abuse suffered by lesbians in Ugandan police detention ran the gamut from touching of intimate parts to the threat of being put into a male cell with the consequent risk of rape.
Prossy Kazzoza, who finally won UK asylum in 2008, was marched naked to a Ugandan police station and subjected to horrific sexual attacks and physical torture after she was discovered by her family. She escaped to the UK after her family bribed the guards to release her — as they wanted to deal with their family shame by having Prossy killed.
The original immigration judge for Prossy's case believed her claim to having been raped and tortured but felt it would be safe to return her to a different part of Uganda.
The evidence Hickinbottom had showed that identified gay men and lesbians can be the subject of ill-treatment, by both the public in terms of lynching and 'corrective rape' and by the police — without them being otherwise 'high profile'. (Thus arguing against the Home Office claims that only one lesbian who was a group leader has ever been persecuted in Uganda).
Because SB is unmarried and without children, the evidence showed, it would - apart from the police attentions - be extremely difficult for her to maintain the sort of 'discretion' which Home Office policy dictates should allow for 'safe' deportation for lesbians and gays even to countries where persecution is known to occur (for example Iran).
Wrote Hickinbottom:
Given this evidence - much of which post-dates the determination of Immigration Judge Grimmett last year - it is perhaps surprising that the Secretary of State took the view that this material, taken with the material the Claimant previously relied upon, was not such as to give the Claimant any chance at all of succeeding with her new asylum claim before a tribunal.
Never mind the evidence
All of this was blithely dismissed by the Home Office representative who wanted deportation because he continued to claim that evidence "lacked specific examples of ill-treatment of identified gay men and lesbians in Uganda". Home Office minister Alan Johnston's representative claimed:
that the ill-treatment of gay men in Uganda was limited to discriminatory legislation that was not enforced
SB would only be at risk of arrest in Kampala because the record of her bail infringement was only kept there (evidence showed otherwise, Ugandan police do share the 'wanted list')
she could internally relocate and live discreetly, as a lesbian, without fear of persecution
even if arrested in Kampala, she would not face the risk of persecution because the harassment she suffered at the hands of the police when she was arrested in 2003 and 2004 was not sufficiently severe to amount to persecution
there was evidence of only one incident in which lesbians had suffered ill-treatment during detention
Refusing the Home Office and allowing the judicial review, Hickinbottom wryly noted that the presentation of the previous judgment once again by Alan Johnston's representative as an argument for deportation - despite all the subsequently available evidence of persecution of lesbians in Uganda - could not be used as "a trump card for the Secretary of State".
He also decided that the brief detention of SB on the orders of a case worker in November was unlawful. He said a number of mistakes were made by the case worker, such as falsely claiming that SB was liable to abscond, and that an Judge's order saying she could not be deported due to a judicial review and must be released was ignored.
It is not over for SB. The Home Office could still fight the case at its next stage. It can keep trying to pull out trump cards rather than live up to its solemn obligations under international laws which the UK is signed up to.
Other parts of the British government are engaged with critiquing the same 'crack down' on Ugandan lesbians and gays that's detailed in evidence presented in SB's case. Ministers have made statements. The Foreign Office is "concerned". The Prime Minister has pulled aside the Ugandan president and told him to stop.
Perhaps those ministers who tell off Uganda for its attitude to Ugandan lesbians could have a quiet word with their fellow minister, Alan Johnson, about his own treatment of Ugandan lesbians?
Islam does not recognize transsexuals, much less a contest involving their community, the chief of the Indonesian Ulema Council said on Sunday.
“Our national law does not recognize the word transsexual or transgender. Islam only recognizes men and women,” Amidhan told the Jakarta Globe. But he said the council, also known as the MUI, would not make an issue out of transsexual pageants.
“If the contest is held for the purpose of entertainment, I believe we can tolerate that,” he said.
But Amidhan added that the MUI would not under any circumstances tolerate a contest that contained indications of pornography — particularly showing too much skin.
“If the contest allows its contestants to reveal their aurat [parts of the body that needs to be covered], it will be condemned as it is sinful,” Amidhan said. “Wearing bikinis and sexy attire is forbidden in Islam.”
He also pointed out that Islam did not support beauty contests. But he said considering the changing norms of modern culture, the ulemas would allow contests to be held with certain limitations.
“Look at the Abang None Jakarta Contest. Now, that is an example of a good contest since both the Abang and the None wear traditional costumes and are completely covered,” Amidhan said.
That beauty pageant involves candidates from all five districts of Jakarta, competing for the titles Abang and None, or Mister and Miss, in the local Betawi dialect, as ambassadors of tourism. Asked whether the MUI would issue fatwa regarding such beauty pageants, Amidhan declined to comment.
Yulianus Rettoblaut, the head of Forum of the Indonesian Transsexual Communication (FKWI) said the transsexual beauty pageant in Banda Aceh over the weekend showed there had been significant improvement in tolerance toward her community.
“More and more people are accepting us as a part of their community, and this is very special in Aceh, where Islamic law seems to be the driving force,” Yulianus said. “We hope this can mean that the stigma attached to being a transsexual is somewhat reduced.”
She said that her forum also jibed with religious teachings by doing social work.
“We are conducting prayers every Sunday for the Christians and a pengajian [Koran recital group] every Friday,” she said. “We can prove that we can do something for the society, just like anybody else.” Nurfika Osman
Every major city in the world has a gay hangout — a place for queers to meet, drink and cruise.
Even a city where homos are under attack, like Kampala, Uganda.
My search for a gay bar in Uganda's capital started on the internet. But it wasn't as easy as Googling "Kampala gay bar," getting a name and doing a map search.
First, I found a gay dating site where a few dozen guys in Uganda have profiles — none with photos. I created my own ad. An hour later, I got a text: "Hi dia am isaac."
We agreed to meet at Garden City, Kampala's only shopping mall. There, Isaac told me a chilling story: One night, one of his friends was making out with his boyfriend at home. Then, the friend's parents walked in. The father beat his son's boyfriend to death, then told authorities it was a robber.
I asked Isaac if there was a safe place for Kampala's gay community to meet. He said the city had a lesbian-owned bar that, once a week, has a gay night. He described where it was but said he's never gone because one of his family members lives nearby.
Isaac lives in fear that someone might see him going in.
Fortunately, I don't have that problem. So, following Isaac's instructions, I hired one of Kampala's ubiquitous motorcycle taxis to take me to a school near the city's main university. When the boda driver dropped me off, I walked down a long, dark, lonely stretch of gravel road until I found a neon sign with the name of the bar.
Tingling with excitement, I passed an armed security guard and walked in. The bar was like a giant open-air beer tent, surrounded by a tall wooden fence. On one side was a stage, where a portly emcee was trying to coax people to sing karaoke. On the other side were pool tables. And at the very back was a small bar area with a DJ booth. There, about 20 men were gathered, laughing and putting their arms around each other.
But that kind of affection isn't unique to gay men in Kampala. It's not uncommon to see straight men walking down the street, hand in hand.
Was it really a gay night? There were no rainbow flags to ease my doubt.
I ordered a Moonberg beer and stood in the centre of it all, conspicuously. As I tried to fine-tune my Afro-gaydar, a group of guys beckoned me to sit with them on wooden stools.
"Is this a special night?" I asked.
"Yes," one of the men answered.
"Do you come here every week?" I asked.
"Yes," they all said.
It was pretty obvious we were skirting around the same issue, until one of the guys asked a question of his own: "Are you gay?"
"Yes," I responded.
They all smiled. Welcome to the club.
Under an enormous, yellow moon, I met a ton of new friends. The first was a tall, flamey travel agent who introduced himself as Long Jones. Then, I met a cute bulldyke with a shaved head named Stosh, a young guy in casual business clothes named Blessed and a short, nattily-dressed boy in a sweater vest and cap who spells his name "Ryan" but prefers to go by "Ree-ann."
If it bothered them to be living in one of the world's most homophobic countries — facing what could be one of the world's most homophobic laws — they didn't show it.
Everyone I met seemed unbelievably happy.
Soon, the bar filled up. In total, about 75 homos mingled and danced to Justin Timberlake. And in the centre of it all was the bar's owner — a fierce-looking lesbian wearing a white track suit and the most beautiful pony-tailed mullet I've ever seen.
A couple of hours later, after I filled my cell phone with half a dozen new numbers, Ryan hugged me goodbye and I hopped on a boda to return to my hotel.
I'll be back next week. In the meantime, I have new friends to meet for coffee. Stay tuned for their harrowing tales of homosexuality in Uganda, in the days ahead.
Les lesbiennes qui migrent en France fuient généralement les persécutions homophobes de leur pays. Une fois arrivées, le plus dur commence: obtenir l’asile. TÊTUE a recueilli le témoignage de Vanessa.
Au Cameroun, Vanessa* a tout vécu de l'homophobie. L'exclusion, la discrimination, les arrestations, les insultes, les coups... En 2006, la coupe est pleine. Visa en poche, elle fuit aux Pays-Bas. «Peu importe où j'allais! Tout ce que je voulais, c'était partir sur une terre où je n'aurais pas à payer pour vivre!», explique cette butch de 31 ans.
Ignorant leur existence, Vanessa ne s'adresse pas à l'Ardhis ou au Réseau pour l'autonomie des femmes immigrées et réfugiées (Rajfire) pour faire ses démarches. C'est la Cimade, qu'elle rencontre après bien des péripéties, qui l'aide à monter un dossier béton. Comme les gays, «les lesbiennes devront prouver des persécutions. Il ne suffit pas que les lesbienne soit juste lesbiennes et que leur pays soit juste homophobe pénalement», déplore Sabreen, de l'espace d'expression Lesbiennes of colors.
Vanessa obtenu gain de cause le 11 novembre dernier, après un recours devant la Cour nationale du droit d'asile. Désormais, elle cherche un CDI en attendant de réaliser son rêve: intégrer une école de DJ.
*Le prénom a été changé
[Google translation]
Lesbians who migrate to France fleeing persecution generally homophobic country. Once arrived, the hardest part begins: getting asylum. Tetu collected the testimony of Vanessa.
In Cameroon, Vanessa * has any experience of homophobia. The exclusion, discrimination, arrests, insults, beatings ... In 2006, the cup is full. Visa in hand, she flees to the Netherlands. "No matter where I went! All I wanted was from a land where I would not have to pay for living, "says this 31 year old butch.
Ignoring their existence, Vanessa does not address the Ardhis or Network for Empowering Women immigrants and refugees (Rajfire) for his efforts. It Cimade, she met after many vicissitudes, which helps build a case concrete. As gays, "lesbians must prove persecution. It is not enough that lesbian and lesbians is just that their country is just homophobic criminal, "says Sabreen, space Lesbian expression of colors.
Vanessa won the case last November 11 after an appeal with the Court's national asylum. Now it seeks a permanent waiting to realize his dream: to integrate a school DJ.
While the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will rewrite its asylum regulations that govern “membership in a particular social group” deemed at risk for persecution in a foreign country, a category that some gay, lesbian, and transgendered asylum seekers claim, the federal agency’s clarification of those regulations may not aid queer immigrants looking for refuge.
In December, DHS placed a notice in the Federal Register, where proposed and final US government rules are published, saying it would amend the regs to state that “gender can be a basis for membership in a particular social group” and “that a person who has suffered or fears domestic violence may... be eligible for asylum on that basis.”
The announcement later noted that the US has increasingly seen asylum applications based on more varied grounds “related, for example, to an applicant’s gender or sexual orientation” and that “these new types of claims are based on the ground of ‘membership in a particular social group,’ which is the least well-defined of the five protected grounds within the refugee definition.”
When Gay City News wrote to DHS seeking comment on what specific changes in asylum regulations the Federal Register notice signaled, the agency responded, “Although each case is highly fact-dependent and requires scrutiny of the specific threat an applicant faces, the Department continues to view domestic violence as a possible basis for asylum in the United States. The issue is highly complex, and we are moving ahead to develop regulations that will address these cases. In the meantime, US Citizenship and Immigration Services will continue to rule on domestic violence-based asylum claims, applying what the Department views as the best reading of the existing immigration laws.”
Following that statement, Gay City News twice wrote DHS asking if the agency would alter the rules as they apply to claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity. DHS did not respond to those emails.
Some asylum seekers assert that they belong to “a particular social group,” such as the gay community, in their home country and will face violence or persecution if they are sent back. How to prove “membership in a particular social group” has often been an issue.
“That’s why on most cases if you can avoid social group, you avoid social group,” said Christopher Nugent, who until early February was senior counsel at Holland & Knight LLP, a Washington, DC, law firm, and has handled asylum cases including claims made by gay, lesbian, and transgendered immigrants.
Clearer rules would help, advocates said.
“There are many players in the immigration system who don’t understand a lot about sexual orientation and gender identity issues, so additional guidance about this would be very helpful,” said Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal, the gay rights law firm.
Asylum seekers can be asked to prove that they subscribed to gay publications or belonged to gay groups. Those activities could get them killed in their home country. They must also demonstrate that they sought state protection or help from their home country’s government, which can also be dangerous, or convince US officials that seeking such assistance would be pointless.
Nugent said ideal rules “would explicitly recognize GLBTI as a social group” and spell out that in some countries, seeking government help would be futile since those nations have anti-gay laws or traditions.
“It should recognize that if there is a pattern and practice of futility... then that should be sufficient,” Nugent said. “It can’t be a de facto requirement that somebody has to seek state protection.”
None of the gay groups that deal with gay, lesbian, and transgendered asylum seekers was aware of the DHS announcement until contacted by Gay City News nor had DHS contacted any of them for input.
“Immigration Equality will be carefully monitoring the proposed regulations to ensure that no further restrictions are placed on LGBT asylum seekers,” Victoria Neilson, legal director at the group, wrote in an email.
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