Diplomatic leak shows 'cold' French opposition to LGBT asylum rights

Philippe Étienne

By Paul Canning

Leaked diplomatic cables obtained by the French news website Rue89.com show 'clinical' French government opposition to EU standards development for LGBT asylum seekers.

The Foreign Ministry cables classified as "RESTRICTED", are from the French representation to the European Union in Brussels, to the Quai d'Orsay, Paris Ministry offices, between June 22 and July 13, 2011. Written by various diplomats, they are all signed by Philippe Étienne, the permanent representative to the EU of France.

In April the European Parliament narrowly voted on including various LGBT asylum measures in a resolution on harmonising asylum procedures across the EU. This included expanding the definition of groups of asylum-seekers 'with special needs' to include people fleeing persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The harmonisation proposal is now being negotiated amongst EU governments with a decision due next year.

According to a 5 July cable, "a large number of delegations" (including France) "expressed reservations" during these negotiations about LGBT being included in the 'special needs' definition.

It listed thirteen countries - France, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Austria, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Sweden - as opposing inclusion in the definition. A fourteenth, Italy, criticised it while welcoming "the consideration of sexual orientation."

Gérard Sadik, coordinator of the National Commission for asylum, La Cimade, told Rue89.com that the Foreign Ministry's approach to the inter-government negotiations was "very homophobic."

Reviewing the cables, Rue89 described seeing a "clinical coldness with which French diplomats asked to remove some basic rights, or to prevent advances that seem obvious under international instruments."

Rue89 says France is not alone in its opposition to another provision, "which seems obvious, however, with regard to human rights", to not allow the detention of vulnerable people where it is established that their health and well-being will deteriorate.

The largest conservative grouping in the European Parliament, the EPP, which includes French President Nicholas Sarkozy's Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), has previously stated opposition to the harmonisation resolution. However the EPP have also said that there is agreement "amongst all groups" in the parliament on "the careful treatment of people with specific needs."

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Thousands of UK asylum seekers 'left in limbo', delays effect fight for Iraqi LGBT

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

A new report from the British Parliament's Home Affairs Committee on the work of the UK Border Agency (UKBA) says that the system was "still failing" amid a "rush" to clear backlogs of tens of thousands of unresolved claims.

The committee has been asking the UKBA for regular updates on its attempts to clear up to 400,000 asylum applications. One in seven cases - about 61,000 - would probably be 'archived', the committee was told, because officials could not trace the individuals.

Keith Vaz MP, chairman of the committee, said:

"Much of the delay… stems from poor quality decision-making when the application is initially considered."

In a blog post at the end of last year, 'Bad decisions, detention, ignoring the courts: How the UK Home Office wastes money', the immigration lawyer Free Movement described decision making as "rubbish, awful, abysmal."

"In the official statistics for 2009," it wrote, "it was revealed that 28% of asylum appeals succeeded. 48% of non-asylum appeals succeeded. These statistics tell you something about the appalling quality of decision making."

"Each appeal requires tribunal time and resources and more implementation resources at the Home Office or FCO [Foreign Office] than would have been the case if the decision were made correctly in the first place. Some of these decisions have also be legal aid cases in the past, although that looks set to change. This is incredibly, criminally, wasteful of public resources."

Jonathan Ellis, Director of Advocacy at the Refugee Council, said:

“It is unacceptable that thousands of people seeking safety in the UK have been left living in limbo with their cases unresolved because of UKBA’s administrative failures."

“Decisions on asylum cases must be made quickly and fairly. It is imperative that asylum seekers have adequate support and early access to good quality legal advice to pursue their case, but the culture of disbelief among UKBA caseworkers must also be eliminated."

"Getting decisions right first time is a win-win for everyone involved in the asylum system. It will not only ensure that those in need of protection can get it, it will also speed up the process and avoid lengthy appeals, saving taxpayers’ money."

"We urge the government through its asylum improvement project to ensure those fleeing conflict and persecution today can get the protection they need without waiting years to get it.”

One of those in limbo is the Iraqi LGBT leader Ali Hili. Although he has 'leave to remain', his asylum application has been outstanding for four years and while it is outstanding he is unable to travel.

Hili has received many requests to speak internationally and spread the word which he has been unable to pursue. The UK Foreign Office Human Rights Report for 2009 specifically names Iraqi LGBT over other NGOs as a key source of information. Hili has met with them numerous times. The report quotes then Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell condemning persecution of LGBT in Iraq.

His solicitor, Barry O'Leary, wrote to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in August 2009 requesting that his case be expedited so he could travel "in order to further the aims of his organisation, that is, supporting lesbians and gay men in Iraq and bringing the world's attention to their plight."

Six months later, the UKBA told O'Leary that:

• the assistance which Hili has given to the UK Foreign Office "does not count"
• the fatwa (from inside Iraq which has led to him receiving protection from the Metropolitan Police) does not mean that Hilli "falls within the classification of clear and immediate vulnerability"
• that the delay in deciding Hilli's asylum case (since July 2007) "is not in itself an exceptional circumstance", and
• his case is not "compelling"

MEP Michael Cashman and MP Caroline Lucas are amongst those who have also written to the Home Office on Hili's behalf.

UKBA responded to Cashman last September, five months after he had written to them and in a letter signed by Chief Executive Lin Homer, that Hili's case "does not meet the criteria to be expedited".

Say Hili:

"The delay in my case is very stressful, I'm frustrated that I'm unable to continue to do my work to save lives and carry on with living my life."

The Committee's report also criticised those contracted by the Border Agency to remove failed asylum seekers.

"We are not at all convinced that the UK Border Agency is being effective in making sure that its contractors provide adequate training and supervision of their employees in respect of the use of force."

"This is a fundamental responsibility of the agency and is not simply a matter of clauses in contracts or formal procedural requirements," it said.

Last October Angolan Jimmy Mubenga died while being escorted on a flight from Heathrow airport in London after being heavily restrained by guards working for G4S, a private security firm contracted to escort deportees for the Home Office. Three guards were arrested and MPs called for a "wide-ranging and independent inquiry" into the UK's deportation system.

After the UK election: where next for LGBT asylum?

By Paul Canning

As the jostling starts on exactly who will form a British government we have no idea who will be the MP(s) ending up with the key Ministries holding the fate of asylum seekers in their hands.

If we have a coalition government with mostly Conservative Ministers we could end up with a gay Home Secretary. There were many rumours after Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling made his ill-fated and off-camera (but not off-microphone) comments on gays and Bed'n'Breakfast hotels that Nick Herbert might replace him. It wasn't Grayling's first 'gaffe'.

The precedent of Labour's silent gay and lesbian MPs would suggest that just because they're LGB they cannot be relied on to stick up for LGBT asylum seekers, but the Conservatives went into Thursday's election making a late pitch via an 'equalities manifesto' that promised to "change the rules" on LGBT asylum.

Labour didn't, and manifesto commitments are serious business. During the campaign my articles on Labour's record drew strong attacks, including from the gay MEP Michael Cashman, that suggested that - somehow - Labour would be better than the mistrusted Tories on LGBT asylum. But despite their lesbian and gay group passing a resolution promising to work on the issue nothing made it onto the actual promises list beyond vague claims, and the record speaks for itself. The UKLGIG study released in the middle of the election proved once-and-for-all that the system they'd managed is riddled with homophobia, how they might tackle it was a complete mystery.

And Labour ended the campaign with Gordon Brown making sickening comments on the pogrom in Iraq, suggesting that Iraqi gays are better off because of his government's actions and refusing to answer on how come it thought Iraq a 'safe country' to return gay asylum seekers to.

Of course the Iraq war supporting David Cameron would have had to say something similar, though possibly differently on the asylum aspect. But the Tory promise to 'change rules', plus what issue it highlighted which Labour consistently either refused to address ('go home and be discrete') or denied was a policy, plus Cameron's answer to my question which was a non-pat answer showing someone in Conservative Central Office was paying attention and reading about the issues can not but give hope - especially when the 'on side' LiberalDemocrats look to be playing a government role.

Another aspect to their credit is that when Cameron made a brief comment suggesting that they shouldn't be returned and told to 'be discrete' the right-wing mass tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail managed to translate this into "Cameron: Gay refugees from Africa should be given asylum in UK". This racist spin (he never mentioned Africa) lit up the far right blogosphere but the Mail's reaction - showing they were paying attention - didn't scare the Tories into not putting a pledge in a manifesto.

A number of LiberalDemocrat MPs who now may have some real power have long 'walked the walk' on LGBT asylum. Especially Simon Hughes who has showed up and backed Peter Tatchell and Outrage's many years of lonely campaigning. During the campaign Lynne Featherstone showed real understanding, saying: "we need to go further, and use our significant influence abroad to end this persecution because for every person that manages to flee - there [are] undoubtedly many more living in fear unable to escape."

But so have a number of Tories. During the campaign for gay Iranian Mehdi Kazemi several years ago the strongest supportive and condemnatory comments came from London's Conservative MEP John Bowis. In Parliament the Tory MP Alistair Burt who has the notorious Yarl's Wood detention centre in his constituency has been relentless is asking probing questions and damning the regime there.

The election also saw a number of new MPs who can be expected to be supportive.

Belfast Mayor and new Alliance party MP Naomi Long, who dramatically beat arch-homophobe and Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson, is a long standing advocate for refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.

The Greens first MP, Caroline Lucas, has worked for LGBT asylum seekers throughout her term as an MEP and her party has strong policy.

Asylum advocates worked to ensure that candidates were educated and asked to commit on the issues. Over 1000, from all parties, signed a pledge to "remember the importance of refugee protection." Many of those were elected yesterday.

UK LGBT advocates have been discussing how to proceed, how to secure change. Exactly how we'll do it cannot be announced yet - watch this space! - but the election seems to have thrown up the greatest hope for real, meaningful change to our appalling regime we've seen in - oh - thirteen years.

Green Party manifesto includes LGBT asylum commitments

Image via Wikipedia

The UK Green Party election manifesto, launched April 16 in Brighton, one of Britain's 'gayest' cities, includes the following commitment:

"Ensure safe haven and refugee status for LGBT people fleeing persecution in violently homophobic and transphobic countries."

This follows on from its inclusion in the party's LGBT manifesto, launched in February.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas told the launch:

“We are delighted that our general election manifesto includes strong commitments to further extend the rights and freedoms of LGBT people.”

She told LGF News:

"The treatment gay and lesbian asylum seekers receive from the British immigration system is nowhere near acceptable and we have worked very hard to support several asylum seekers who were under threat of deportation while under unimaginably enormous mental stress."

"Our co-spokesperson, who is a lesbian, is working with someone on their claim right now - this person has been turned down by the adjudicator, but I can't go into too much detail as her appeal is pending.  If she is refused leave to remain we will be fighting her case."

"Jean Lambert, the Greens's other MEP, was instrumental in getting a decision to deport a gay man to likely execution in Iran reversed by shaming the Labour government into reviewing his case."

Green Party LGBT National Spokesperson Phelim Mac Cafferty said:

"Gordon Brown’s government’s refusal to offer asylum to LGBT refugees who have suffered beatings' imprisonment' and torture on the grounds that they will not be at risk of homophobic persecution if they simply hide their sexuality and stop having gay relationships' shows that while making some progressive decisions for gay people in this country' Labour are not beyond criticism. In fact' Labour practices double standards by not making similar demands on political or religious refugees."

• Green Party manifesto (PDF)

Gay Pledge from Green Party for Euro Poll

The Green Party is today launching eight pledges for equality for LGBT people. Joseph Healy and John Hunt from London, Lesley Hedges from Yorkshire and Humber and Chris Williams from West Midlands are standing as openly gay and lesbian Green Party candidates in the European election.

Joseph Healy introduced the manifesto: “We are proud of the record of our Green MEPs on LGBT issues, proud to have so many LGBT candidates standing and because we think that the opinions of the LGBT communities are incredibly important in this election we are also proud to launch our own specific LGBT election manifesto.”

The LGBT Greens European Election Manifesto

The Greens will continue to campaign for:

--full LGBT equality, including full partnership, insurance, pensions, employment, and housing rights. This includes campaigning to rid ALL EU member states of homophobic and transphobic discrimination in access to goods and services, such as insurance and mortgages.

--all EU member states to comply with the EU directive outlawing discrimination against lesbians gay men and bisexuals in the workplace.
--equivalent and specific protection in society and in the workplace for trans citizens.

Greens will press for policing which reflects the diversity of the LGBT communities in the EU particularly in the new Eastern states, ensuring that homophobic behaviour by police officers is considered an explicit offence which can be remedied with disciplinary action. Also working with the police in deepening their relationship with the LGBT community, including LGBT organisations: improving the rapport between police forces and the LGBT community; addressing the continued under-reporting of hate crimes, and working with authorities to bring hate crime culprits to justice.

Greens will work to legalise same-sex marriages and registered partnerships across the EU, particularly in asylum legislation

Greens will campaign to
--extend the EU definition of "family" to include LGBT partnerships
--campaign for lgbt equal access to parenting and fertility treatment.

Greens will continue to lobby Police on non-prosecution of consenting, victimless gay offences, such as cruising. Police resources should be concentrated on violent, corporate and hate crimes and active, sustainable measures to create safer communities.

Greens will support a pan European HIV Action Plan:
--to improve safer sex education.
Greens will also campaign to
--cut transmission rates by remedying the financial hole in HIV services and large inadequacies in the provision and scope of HIV services
--upgrade the standard of treatment and after-care for people who have transmitted HIV. This will include pressing the UK government to resolve the under-funding and under-staffing of sexually-transmitted infection (STI) clinics.

Greens through their MEPs will lobby the European Commission to-
require all companies doing business with the European Union, or governments and local authorities within it, to be required to have equal opportunities policies that prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and HIV-positive people; thereby enabling local authorities to take a proactive role in encouraging businesses to end homo, bi and transphobic discrimination.

8. Greens propose to celebrate queer culture and history, for example by proposing the establishment of more Lesbian & Gay Museums.

Joseph Healy continued: “It is vital that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people have MEPs representing our rights in Europe. Jean Lambert, our London MEP, and Caroline Lucas our South Eastern MEP have worked hard in Europe for LGBT rights to be understood as human rights.

“The European Elections are important, because so much of UK human rights policy tends to follow European directives on issues like the age of consent and anti-discrimination laws in employment.

“It is also important that the more progressive nature of Western European attitudes to LGBT people spreads into Eastern Europe. Gay Prides in Europe have been prevented or attacked in the past but this is slowly beginning to change.

“The far right is challenging the progress that has been made and we need strong voices to protect us across the whole of the European Region.

“The EU is in a strong position to give us a strong voice to oppose homophobic persecution and judicial murder across the world.

“Green Party actions are not just paper policies. Darren Johnson led the way for civil partnerships by being instrumental in introducing the London register which predated the Civil Partnership Bill and showed that there was a demand and that it could be done.

Joseph concluded:
“Jean Lambert Green MEP for the London region is a member of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights and works to ensure that LGBT people are treated fairly across Europe. She has spoken out against the deportation of gay and lesbian asylum seekers, to their almost certain death, which shamed the Labour government into allowing them to stay in the UK. She continues to oppose homophobic oppression in Europe and throughout the world.”

Lesley, meanwhile is the National Female Spokesperson for LGBTGreens. She is active in her local LGBTIQ community and works to improve public services, including health, for LGBTIQ people. “We deserve fair and equal treatment but surveys show that LGBTIQ people have less satisfaction with health and other services. We can be more open about our sexuality than ever before, yet some still face vilification in their access to health often when they are at their most vulnerable.

Lesley concluded: “We need strong laws across the European Union that make sure the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities are treated fairly. That is all we are asking for yet it seems to be a step too far for some services to tackle staff who display homophobic attitudes. Our young people are subjected to bullying in schools resulting in low confidence, poor mental health and even self-harm and suicide. This has got to end.”

Source

Last call: Support the lesbian + gay asylum seeker petition to Gordon Brown

Dear friends

The petition to Gordon Brown supporting lesbian and gay asylum seekers is in its final week and we are writing to ask for a final push for its support from you. The deadline is 7 March.

The signatures currently stand at 4,000. They include a number of prominent individuals such as the actors Simon Callow, Ian Flintoff and Cathy Tyson, musicians Andrew Oldham and Tom Robinson, playwright Jonathan Harvey, Green MEPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert, Conservative MEP John Bowis, Labour MEPs Eluned Morgan, Claude Moraes and Glenys Kinnock, Mick Houghton, Secretary Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils, Chair of The Gender Trust Rebecca Dittman, authors Neil Forsyth and Bob Cant, activist Peter Tatchell, architect Yvonne Dean, Professors Ken Mortimer MBE and A.P.M. Coxon, former Cambridge Mayor Jennie Bailey, London Assembly Member Darren Johnson, LibDem MPs Lynne Featherstone, Lorely Burt, Tom Brake and Jo Swinson, Labour MP Celia Barlow and former Minister Stephen Twigg. As well, a large group of signatorees are Christian ministers.

The petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Stopdeportinggay/ was initiated by the Reverend Walter Attwood when the young Iranian asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi's case was in the news. Unfortunately the position of the Home Office has not changed and they continue to insist that gays and lesbians can be sent back to unsafe countries 'so long as they are discrete'. It was only due to the massive publicity which Mehdi's case engendered that he was saved.

Given that the numbers of cases are so small and the situations which people are fleeing from so well documented, their stance is completely untenable.

It is also well-documented that homophobia exists in the Home Office so we simply do not believe their position that these cases are given 'due and fair consideration'.

The Canadian Immigration Minister has just announced that he will consider using the services of lesbian and gay immigration groups to help bring genuine asylum seekers from Iran to his country. We believe that the Home Office should consider doing the same here. These groups are best positioned to weed out the genuine cases - those people who should be welcomed here as their cases are formally assessed.

For the government to do otherwise would, we believe, highlight its hypocrisy when it comes to the situation of lesbians and gays overseas.

The Foreign Office has made great play of its efforts to oppose homophobia internationally, such as through flying the rainbow flag at the Polish embassy. At the same time another government department treats those lesbians and gays fleeing the worst persecution appallingly. As you may be aware, the Home Office has been ordered by a judge to find and return to the UK one African gay asylum seeker it violently conned and literally threw on a plane last year.

We believe that the British people do not support the policies and actions of the Home Office. We believe that they recognise lesbians and gays fleeing regimes such as Iran as genuine asylum seekers of the sort this country has historically made welcome here.

Please urge everyone you know to sign the petition so as many people as possible can send this message to Gordon Brown:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop deporting gays and lesbians to countries where they may be imprisoned, tortured or executed because of their sexuality.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Stopdeportinggay/

Paul Canning for Lesbian and gay asylum news

~~~~~

The text of this message is available for publication. For comment please call Paul Canning on 07986 008420.

Only UK residents and citizens can sign the petition.

Visit our website, LGBT asylum news (formally Save Medhi Kazemi) for background information
http://www.medhikazemi.com

Cyprus grants asylum to gay Iranian

MEPs have welcomed the decision of Cyprus interior minister to grant resident status to an gay Iranian asylum seeker.

Labour's Michael Cashman, Lib Dem Baroness Ludford, Tory John Bowis and Greens Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas were among 13 MEPs who put their name to a parliamentary question to the European Commission on the issue.

They wanted to know if the refusal of asylum to Abbas Bagherian by Cyprus on the grounds of sexual orientation was a breach of EU directives.

After Cypriot MEP Panayiotis Demetriou raised the case in discussions with the interior minister, Mr Bagherian was granted residency.

"I strongly welcome the decision to allow Mr Bagherian to remain in Cyprus," said Baroness Ludford, Liberal Democrat justice and human rights spokeswoman and an MEP for London.

"A rejection of his application and his return to Iran would have left him vulnerable to imprisonment, torture and in the worst case the death penalty, simply for being gay.

"I hope that we are starting to see a general move in EU countries to recognise the validity of asylum claims based on the risk of persecution due to sexual orientation.

"There should be a consistent EU policy, because such fears may be absolutely justified regarding a country like Iran."

According to Doros Polykarpou, the director the Cypriot immigrant support group KISA, Mr Bagherian came to Cyprus and applied for asylum in June 2004 and for the last three years he has been living with his Cypriot partner.

Mr Bagherian had an initial interview at the Asylum Service in July 2005. At the interview, he was did not reveal that the real cause of his persecution in Iran was his sexual orientation. This was because he was afraid that this information would have been leaked to the Iranian authorities and, in case of a rejection of his application, he would face imprisonment, torture or even death sentence if he was returned to Iran.

Then in April 2007, he informed the Asylum Service of his sexuality and had another interview, saying he was arrested and detained at the age of 15 because of his homosexual relations.

In addition, Mr Bagherian informed the Asylum Service that he had been arrested a further four times by the authorities in Iran and had detained and beaten up.

Source Source

LGBT asylum briefs

Arsham Parsi, Executive Director of the Iranian Queer Organization, pictured with Patrick Carney, the force behind the Friends of the Pink Triangle, at it's launch (amid hazy smoky conditions). The Pink Triangle sits atop Twin Peaks, San Francisco during Pride.

‘Discrete’ Gays Safe in Iran: Really Ms. Smith?
UKGayNews op-ed republished in gaywired.com.

Brown’s moral compass spins unpredictably
Editorial in the Scottish Herald

In a big, bad world, out and proud Persians may not be your top priority. But stop and think about this for a moment. In our name, ministers are deporting people to face imprisonment and even death for their sexuality, and the best we can offer is some helpful advice to be "discreet". Are we saying the same of those whose ethnicity, political beliefs, faith or creed requires similar discretion? You may be Jewish, Kurdish, Sunni, Christian or anti-Mugabe, but please go home and don't be flamboyant about it.

Comment for conservativehome.com

The treatment of gay men in Iraq came to prominence earlier this year when Mehdi Kazemi was threatened with deportation to Tehran - even after his boyfriend had been executed. Conor Burns wrote about it at the time for CentreRight.com.

This Labour Government is often 'tough' when it shouldn't be - as here - and 'soft' when it shouldn't be - illegal immigration more generally. Without commenting on individual cases it would be good to see Dominic Grieve taking up this general issue.

Tara's Crossing is a new play which explores the experience of lesbian & gay asylum seekers from Guyana living in the United States.

"The story is based on gays and lesbians who are not protected well in Guyana. The play is about Vermal's life and experiences in Guyana, her quest for freedom and to be granted asylum."

In one of the scenes, Hemraj recalled, when an attorney was interviewing Vermal, he reportedly called the Guyana Consulate and was told that there were no negative issues affecting gays in the country because there are no gays in Guyana.

Letters from Caroline Lucas, Green MEP. concerning Pegah Emambakash

• Response to first letter
  
• Further letter to the Home Office re Pegah’s asylum claim 2008
• Response

At the Jerusalem Global Anglican Futures Conference a reporter representing the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement asked Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda to comment on the case of Prossy Kakooa, a Ugandan woman who was jailed, raped and tortured after it was discovered she was gay, and was currently fight a decision by the Home Office refuse her asylum in Britain.

Archbishop Orombi said he was unaware of the case, and after the details were related to him, said that all Anglicans, as well as all Ugandans would be shocked by the allegations of police brutality and would condemn it.

Dr Jensen summarized the views of all of the archbishops by saying, “any such violence or behaviour against gays and lesbians is condemned by us” and is contrary to Christian principles, and was utterly rejected.

However there is also this report of what was said:

When given the example of a lesbian women from Uganda who had applied for asylum in the UK after being jailed, raped in the police station, and marched for two miles naked through the streets of Uganda, Archbishop Akinola said: "That's one example. The laws in your countries say that homosexual acts, actions are punishable by various rules. I don't need to argue. If the practice (homosexuality) is now found to be in our society" he continued, "it is of service to be against it. Alright, and to that extent what my understanding is, is that those that are responsible for law and order will want to prevent wholesale importation of foreign practices and traditions, that are not consistent with native standards, native way of life."

Archbishop Henry Orombi said it was not possible, or the church's role in Uganda, to speak out favourably about gay and lesbian people. "The church's practice is to preach, to proclaim" he said, "so that people who find themselves in a position where they go away from the word of God, the same word of God can bring them back to life. And that is in Uganda as already Archbishop Akinola is saying."

From a Queer West forum, part of the international queer festival in Toronto:

"In Mexico, many people are assaulted and beaten based on what people interpret to be a lesbian or gay look," said Carolina Gama, a member of Mujeres al Frente (Women in the Front Line), a support group for Latin American LBTIQ women and transgender persons from Mexico, Central and South America living in Toronto.

"Just having short hair, loose clothes, not wearing makeup, anything not conforming to the female stereotype" would be a gay look.

Gama went on to detail the problems Latin American LGTBQ women face when claiming refugee status upon entering Canada.

"A common problem Mexican LGTBQ people face is being denied protection as a refugee because they can live in Mexico City without any aggression, so they are denied refugee status and told to go back even if they don't live anywhere near the city," said Gama. "Not every LGBTQ who is tortured, violated, beaten, raped is granted asylum in Canada."

The second speaker, Andrea Siemens, has worked extensively with Amnesty International's Refugee Network and Christian Peacemaker Teams overseas in Uganda and The West Bank and said the persecution some had to face could be found in almost all aspects of their society.

"A very widely read weekly tabloid in Uganda have at least three times published lists of 30 to 40 people that they identified to be gay or lesbian by name and at times dates of birth," Siemens said. "These people would lose their jobs, their homes and have to deal with people who can be very aggressive."

Siemens added she encountered a number of people overseas who hold the perception that the system in place to accommodate refugees or asylum seekers in Canada is easily accessible, but said in reality it can be difficult to secure status.

"Even with all the documented problems it's still very difficult for someone from Uganda identified as queer to come to Canada and say 'I'm facing persecution' and be granted asylum," Siemens said. "It's hard to believe and it works on a case-to-case basis, but one of the issues that comes up is proving it."

Seeking sanctuary from persecution

by Caroline Lucas MEP

Today has consisted of a series of seemingly endless meetings in Strasbourg, on issues such as environmental law and waste in the EU. I’ve ended the day on a high though, by giving an interview on BBC Southern Counties Radio about the decision by the government to save the gay Iranian man Mehdi Kazemi from deportation.

Kazemi came to the UK in 2005 to study in Brighton in the first instance and intended to return to Iran, before discovering the threat to his life after his former parnter was hanged. There had been an overwhelming consensus in the European Parliament for resolution B6-0111/2008 in March which expressed ’serious concern’ over the fate of Kazemi, recognising that Iran regularly detains, tortures and executes people on the basis of their sexuality. The case was even taken up by the House of Lords, where 60 members signed a letter to Jacqui Smith.

Homosexual acts have been considered a capital crime in Iran since the 1979 revolution that brought the Ayatollah Khomeini to power, and during a speech at Columbia University in September 2007, Prime Minister Ahmadinejad made the frankly tragic and even amusing claim that "in Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country".

It’s worth remembering that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and in particular to Article 3 thereof, prohibits the removal, expulsion or extradition of persons to countries where there is a serious risk that they would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. So I hope this case sets a new precedent for people like Pegah Emambakhsh, an Iranian lesbian, whose future in the UK is yet to be decided.

Green MEP Demands Better Treatment for Gay Men and Women Seeking Asylum

From UkGayNews

Gay men and women seeking asylum in the United Kingdom face detention and having to deal with homophobia not only from other inmates, but even from those who are paid to detain them, a Member of the European Parliament said on Saturday.

Speaking at an IDAHO rally, Dr. Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MEP for South East England, demanded that the British government makes homophobia and transphobia absolute grounds for asylum.

“It’s truly shocking to recall that it’s only 18 years since the World Health Organisation removed
“homosexuality” from the list of so called mental disorders… but that is the anniversary we are marking here in Brighton today,” she told the 200 or so who braved the rain in the seafront..

“There has been progress. But there remain 77 countries around the world where homosexual acts are still a criminal offence and seven countries where the punishment is execution.

“We condemn this as a direct affront to international human rights law, we demand that our government and the EU stop turning a blind eye to these atrocities, and we demand that they work to help to end them.”

“The theme for this year IDAHO event is ‘women’ – which gives us the opportunity to reflect on the compound discrimination faced by LGBT women: as women stereotyped by a sexist society, then by being lesbian in a homophobic society, often isolated within the wider LGBT community,” she continued.

“Take the example of Pegah Emambakhsh, a lesbian, who Gordon Brown is trying to deport back to Iran, where he knows she faces torture and probably stoning to death for her sexual orientation.

“Can we even begin to imagine what Pegah is going through as she continues to fight to prevent herself being sent back to certain persecution?

LGBT ssylum seekers in this country face detention having to deal with homophobia not only from other inmates, but even from those who are paid to detain them.

“Those who assess their claims may have no understanding of homophobia, and be completely unable to understand the real dimensions of the persecution they face.”

Dr. Lucas said on International Day Against Homophobia that out a clear message has to be sent to the government.

“Our message is this: that neither homophobia, transphobia, nor any other kind of prejudice, have any place in society today.”

Turning to Europe, she said that pressure has to be maintained on all EU Governments to respect the human rights of all their citizens, in keeping with the European Convention on Human Rights.

“This impacts on anyone in the UK exercising their right to work and travel in the EU, like those from Brighton who travelled to Riga Pride in Latvia last year in order to ensure that Riga Pride 2007 went ahead.

“Only a week ago, the police in Moldova stood by organised thugs [who] threatened violence against LGBT people who tried and sadly failed to hold a Pride Parade.

“This is a country seeking membership of the EU, which isn’t even adhering to the most basic human rights.

“It is, sadly, no surprise that some of the world’s most oppressive regimes, like those in Iran, China, continue to harass, abuse and discriminate against their citizens on the basis of their sexuality but that our government here in the UK isn’t challenging this daily is totally unacceptable.

“How can Britain send an effective message that homophobic discrimination against LGBT people is unacceptable if the same British Government is forcing LGBT asylum seekers back to countries which they know retain execution and torture for LGBT people.

“It’s true, of course, that there have been improvements here in the UK, thanks to the work and struggle of LGBT people themselves but hard-won battles can be over-turned – and we cannot forget that the new Tory Mayor of London has called gay marriages a 'ludicrous parody of the real thing'.

“It’s time for a renewed campaign to persuade our government to take human rights seriously – and to make stamping out all forms of discrimination a bedrock of British foreign policy.

“To that end, I will be writing to foreign secretary David Milliband with practical suggestions of how we can support Pride events across Europe.

“I am delighted to be able to mark another IDAHO here in Brighton, and to celebrate diversity with one of the most vibrant and diverse LGBT communities in the world,” she concluded.

Letter from Caroline Lucas supporting Pegah Emambakhsh

NB: this letter from Caroline is from last year - latest on Pegah - but it's a good example of how these sorts of letters are written.

DR. CAROLINE LUCAS

Green Party

for the South East of England

Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP
Minister of State
The Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

September 12^th 2007

Dear Minister,

Re: Pegah Emambakhsh – H.O ref: B1191057

Pegah Emambakhsh is an Iranian woman who is being held in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. If deported to Iran, Pegah faces imprisonment and execution by stoning, due to her sexual orientation.

Pegah escaped from Iran and sought asylum in the UK in 2005, after her partner was arrested, tortured and subsequently sentenced to death by stoning. Her father was also arrested, interrogated and tortured for information about her whereabouts.

The UK Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) rejected Pegah’s claim for asylum and her appeal against the decision has failed. Pegah was arrested and taken to Yarls Wood Immigration Centre in Bedfordshire, where, as far as I am aware, she is still being held. However, Pegah has recently received the offer of asylum in Italy.

It was a grave miscarriage of justice and contravention of human rights that her appeal for asylum was rejected by the UK in 2005. Despite her traumatic past experiences, Pegah has been an active and respected member of the community in Sheffield, volunteering for a refugee-support organisation.

After her plight received wide media coverage in Italy, Pegah’s case has now been taken up by the Italian government, and she has been offered asylum in the city of Venice. The Mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, has stated that the city “places a secure living facility at the woman’s disposal”.

I, therefore, strongly urge you to ensure that Pegah is not deported to Iran where there is little doubt she would persecuted in an extreme manner, and possibly stoned to death. Pegah is at even greater risk of persecution now that she has received visible media attention. I would strongly urge you to ensure that, if the UK is unwilling to review its position, Pegah is permitted to go to Italy, where she can live in safety and be reunited with her children.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas – Green Party MEP for South East England.