Resource: Country guidance commentary

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter

Mike Kaye is the Advocacy Manager for Still Human Still Here, a coalition of more than 40 organisations that are campaigning to end the destitution of refused asylum seekers in the UK.

Still Human Still Here believes that many asylum seekers who should be granted some form of protection in the UK are being refused and subsequently end up destitute. In 2010, it was estimated that around 70 percent of destitute refused asylum seekers in the UK came from just eight countries, all of which were either in conflict or had serious and widespread human rights violations. These countries were Zimbabwe, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Eritrea (Still Human Still Here, At the end of the line: Restoring the integrity of the UK’s asylum system, 2010, p. 38).

Still Human Still Here’s contention that the Home Office incorrectly refuses many asylum seekers any form of protection in the UK is supported by a review of the number of decisions which are subsequently overturned on appeal. In 2010, 27 percent of appeals were allowed. That is to say that in more than one in four cases the UKBA got the initial decision wrong.

For some of the nationalities highlighted above, however, the overturn rates on appeal were significantly higher. For example, 50 percent of Somalis won their appeals in 2010 and 36 percent of Eritreans and Zimbabweans were also successful. During 2011, asylum seekers from these and other countries have continued to have an extremely high percentage of their appeals allowed. For example, 57 percent of Eritreans, 53 percent of Somalis, 38 percent of Sri Lankans and 31 percent of Zimbabweans won their appeals in the third quarter of 2011. These cases alone affected 218 individuals, causing them unnecessary anxiety and wasting considerable amounts of taxpayers’ money by forcing them to go to appeal when in many cases they could have been granted refugee status at the initial determination.

While the appeals process works for some refugees, it should be stressed that success at appeal is largely dependent on having good quality legal advice and representation and this is in increasingly short supply, particularly since the closure of both Refugee and Migrant Justice and the Immigration Advisory Service.

One way in which Still Human Still Here believes refugees could be better identified at the initial determination would be through improvements to the Operational Guidance Notes (OGNs). The OGNs outline conditions and risks to particular groups in various countries and are used by case owners as a key resource when deciding on individual asylum applications.

Several OGNs contain country of origin information and references to case law which are outdated. For example, the current OGN on the DRC was issued in December 2008 and relies heavily on the Country of Origin Information Service DRC Country Report from May 2008, which is now more than three-and-a-half years old. Since the beginning of 2009, more than 500 new applications for asylum have been made by individuals from the DRC. Decisions will have been reached on these applications on the basis of information which, at best, was seven months old. In this context, it is not surprising that the percentage of DRC appeals that are successful has risen to 34 percent in 2011 (up to October).

There are currently 30 OGNs published on the countries from which the UK receives the most asylum applications. Those countries from which there are lower numbers of applications tend to be updated with even less frequency. For example, the most recent OGN for Rwanda was issued in March 2009 and generally relies on country of origin information which was published in November 2008.

Even where OGNs are updated regularly, Still Human Still Here considers that many have inconsistencies and omissions between their conclusions and currently available country of origin information and/or case law.

For example, before an update on 15 December this year, the Somalia OGN cited a UKBA fact-finding mission as reporting ‘travel within Al-Shabaab controlled areas of southern and central Somalia was common and considered relatively safe’. It further noted that ‘everyone can move freely in south central’ and that given ‘the relative ease of travel within many areas of Somalia, it will be feasible for many to return to their home areas from Mogadishu airport as most areas are accessible’ (paras. 2.4.3 and 2.4.6).

This assessment appeared to ignore various reputable sources which note that checkpoints operated by armed militias and groups associated with Al-Shabaab inhibit passage and expose civilians to rape, violence, extortion and forced recruitment. Indeed, the United Nations Report of the Secretary-General on Somalia, 30 December 2010, noted that ‘[i]nternally displaced persons and refugees fleeing southern Somalia continued to report abuses by militias manning checkpoints before they reached safe areas, including rape, beatings and looting’ (para.33).

In order to draw attention to these sorts of inconsistencies, Still Human Still Here has published OGN commentaries, including 2011 commentaries on the most recent OGNs for Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Iran, Eritrea and Sudan. These commentaries are intended as tools to assist legal practitioners in preparing appeals; we hope they will help ensure that individuals who may be at risk of persecution or other serious harm in their country of origin have a reasonable chance of getting protection in the UK.

Related articles

• Is the UK's asylum system sexist? (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Report shows dire fate of refugees returned to Congo

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Open Democracy

By Catherine Ramos

Congolese people who had sought sanctuary in the United Kingdom and had their applications for protection refused found friendship and acceptance within the communities of Middlesbrough and Stockton in the north east of England. As they settled into the communities it became clear that these were men and women of integrity, who, whilst awaiting the outcome of their asylum claims, were making valuable contributions to our schools, churches and voluntary groups. When a Congolese man, who had been accepted on to a Skilled Workers’ Programme which would enable him to migrate to Canada, was removed with his young family back to The Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007, many residents in the Tees Valley were appalled.

Tees Valley residents did not sit back and think they could do nothing to help. They campaigned relentlessly for the family and for others threatened with removal and they maintained contact with those removed. The ten individuals who were returned to DRC between 2006 and 2009 had all been clients of the charity Justice First. They trusted the integrity of those associated with Justice First sufficiently to confide details of their post-return experience and these are recorded in a new report, 'Unsafe Return', from Justice First.

A pattern of imprisonment and ill treatment emerged which was corroborated by similar reports from other UK civil society groups that had maintained contact with clients. The post return experience of only fifteen out of seventeen adults is documented, as two returnees are missing. A visit was made to DRC in 2011 by the report author in order to verify the current situation of the returnees still living there. At least six returnees had fled the country and others were found to be still living in hiding, fearful of re-arrest and unable to live with their families because of threats. One person was living under an assumed identity. They wanted the truth of their situation to be made known so that others might be protected.

A Congolese Immigration official interviewed in 2011 explained that, when UK Immigration passed on the names of those to be removed, the files in the possession of the Immigration authorities were studied to see if the returnee had a ‘problem’ with the state, such as breach of state security. If he or she had, the secret services would be alerted.

Men and women allege they were arrested and interrogated about their activities in the UK. They were told they had to be punished because they were from the UK, home to the spearhead of Congolese resistance to the regime of President Kabila. Three returnees were tortured to make them confess to their involvement in an attack on one of President Kabila’s ministers in London in 2006 and to name others involved. The refused asylum seekers were considered to be traitors who had not only betrayed their country but also their president by talking about the human rights violations they had suffered before they had fled the DRC.

The methods used to extract information amounted to torture: severe beating, electrocution, rape and sexual abuse. Returnees were held without access to a lawyer or to visitors in prisons where conditions are recognised as breaching human rights conventions.

It's was an awful experience: very bad condition of life because have to pee and to eat, to sleep at the same room and on the floor. No food was been given and sometimes we were forced to drink our own human urine and were beating [sic].” (Male returnee)

Read more »

Congo: gays in a misunderstood struggle

Lubumbashi location map via Wikipedia

Source: Syfia Grand Lacs

By Bahizire Bacinywenga

Translated by F. Young

Inspired by the LGBT movement in the West, small groups of gays are timidly trying to make a place for themselves in Lubumbashi [the second largest city of the Democratic Republic of Congo]. But neither local customs nor Congolese law tolerate homosexual practices, which are considered abnormal...

François Musenge tells the story of the little mishap that happened to him in a nightclub in the center of Lubumbashi [a city of 1.5 million people at the far south of the country]. He says that he had gone out for a fun night with friends, and had one drink too many. When he went to the urinal, someone approached him to tell him that he pleased him. At first glance, Musenge thought it was a girl because he had earrings and braided hair. But Musenge quickly realized it was a man from his voice. He says he ran away to join his friends in the club and persuaded them to leave the bar...

In Lubumbashi, as in some other major Congolese cities, it is no longer rare to see homosexuals. They are slowly trying to come out of hiding, where they have lived for years because of the generally hostile views of the people. Some are now trying to claim what they consider their right. If we do not come out, how will others know that we exist and more importantly, how will we live?, asks Gaby, a 20 year old who attends a public house in the Golf neighborhood in the heart of Lubumbashi.

Hostile environment

Gaby is part of a group of five young gay men. Nightclubs and bars are often the only venues where they can meet and be seen. They go out at night to meet other people who see things the same way they do, says Handy, who adds with a little smile, that it allows them to have a little money, and it doesn’t kill anyone. Gaby adds that they meet people who think like them, especially foreigners, and sometimes Congolese who love them.

However, everyone knows that Congolese society, and particularly that of Lubumbashi, takes a very dim view of this small community of gay men looking to come out of hiding. People see us as abnormal people, complains Gaby. Elsewhere, homosexuals have the right to marry, he says, but not here at home.

The laws in this area are, in fact, very strict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While article 40 of the constitution and article 330 of the family code guarantee the right to marriage for all citizens, they are particularly explicit about who can enter them.

Everyone has the right to marry the person of his choice, but of the opposite sex, and we cannot go against the law, says Jean-Marie Kabanga, a member of the Lubumbashi Bar. A human rights defender. he believes that universal laws must adapt to the sociological context.

Gay marriage not for tomorrow

According to Kabanga, the practice of homosexuality has always existed in all societies, but in different forms. In Africa, it has often been associated with magic and mystical practices, he says. He says that on a trip to Kasai (Ed. in the center of the country) in 1977, he found a small group of homosexuals frequented by diamond searchers, who supposedly needed them to be lucky in their work.

A sociologist who requested anonymity believes that it is the wind of globalization, driven by strong media coverage of the protest movements of the gay communities in Europe in particular, that explains the willingness of young gay Congolese to make their voices heard.

I know, says Gaby, that many people do not appreciate us. But that does not diminish my determination to do what I love most.

To those who accuse them of engaging in these practices only to earn money, Handy says he is ready to marry the man of his choice if society accepts them. Which, in the opinion of many Congolese lawyers and human rights defenders, is not imminent.

Related articles

• SA denies Congolese albino gay man asylum (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• New report documents LGBT in DR Congo, reports possible anti-homosexuality bill revival (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• In Scotland, gay Congolese man reaches sanctuary (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

SA denies Congolese albino gay man asylum

Charles Ngoy

By Paul Canning

A gay, albino Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugee has been refused asylum in South Africa in what advocates say is an increasing pattern of refusals for LGBT asylum seekers.

Charles Ngoy was refused asylum, in part, because Congo does not have a sodomy law due to its legacy as a Belgian and not British colony (although one has been proposed, reportedly directly inspired by the infamous Ugandan 'kill gays' bill. ).

However gay people in Congo suffer as in most of the rest of Africa from discrimination, rejection and harassment.

Albino people face discrimination and marginalization in their communities, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“They have trouble getting work, in accessing adequate health care, in finding marriage partners and in entering education,” UNDP said.

“Albino children do not feel loved by their parents, brothers and sisters. Albino women are subject to discrimination from other women. Women who give birth to albino babies are often mocked or rejected.”

A report in June by the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRBC) said that, in general, society favours criminalizing “acts against nature.” Homosexuality is taboo in the DRC. There are no public places for homosexuals in the capital city of Kinshasa. It reported that:

“Discrimination against LGBTI individuals is widespread, and they are often rejected by their communities” and are subjected to threats, retaliation, insults and social exclusion.

Junior Mayema, a gay Congolese refugee in South Africa who was interviewed for South African TV recently, fled after his mother tried to inject him with gasoline. He was hunted, shunned and banished.

Charles told the South African eNews Channel:

"In DRC I have never been arrested for my sexual orientation but I've been discriminated against by Congolese people, by friends by family. Because of that, it is not an easy life. Also I'm facing double persecution because I'm an albino... in Congo, if you are albino, and you are not protected by your family it's very difficult because not everyone in Congo likes albinos."

David Von Durgsdorff of Refugee Rights advocacy group Passop said:

"The case of Charles is not the exception, it's the norm. We're seeing more and more cases like this."

"We are very worried about these developments. It makes it clear that the Department of Home Affairs is compromising the refugee status determination process and turning it into an accelerated refugee rejection process."

"Homosexual asylum-seekers from many parts of Africa who have legitimate claims for asylum are being rejected left, right and center. The current system is failing and needs to be improved urgently."

"The case of Charles represents a particularly blatant failure, because he faces a double persecution in Congo, being both albino and gay. We have helped him appeal the decision and will continue to follow this and other such cases closely."

Charles grew up and spent most of his life living in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa.  His parents divorced when he was less than a year old. The main reason for the divorce was because his father’s mother had a problem with the colour of his skin – he was albino.

Growing up he did not have a family experience. He lived with his father most of the time during school, but did not feel loved by him. His father’s new wife did not accept him as part of the family and treated him horribly.

When Charles was nine he started developing gay feelings. These feelings grew stronger and during his teenage years he felt more and more drawn to intimacy with men. However, he was very careful to keep this secret, because he knew very well that in Congolese tradition being gay was unacceptable.  For this reason he tried to suppress his sexual orientation, but it became too strong. When he was 18, he started having some small first relationships and boyfriends.

Despite these first few experiences, he was living in the shadows. He couldn’t share his secret with anyone.  He was already constantly persecuted, vulnerable and afraid because he was an albino, and was trying hard to be accepted not just by society, but also by his family. Because of this fear of being further marginalised and persecuted he hid his homosexuality.

Hiding his homosexuality meant that he was constantly aware of how he walked, talked or what he did, and tried to suppress his natural character because of fear of being discovered.

"You can get beaten and out casted by society if it is discovered that you are gay" he says. 

He had little choice but to keep his sexuality a secret. Nobody in his family knows he is gay, to this day.

Although he had a boyfriend and a job as a school administrator, he didn’t have peace or safety in his life. Realising that he would never be able to find peace in Congo, and hence could never be happy, he decided that leaving was the only way he could be happy.

He arrived in South Africa two weeks ago. It has been a tough two weeks for him. He applied for refugee status, but was rejected by a Department of Home Affairs official.

His first impressions are that people here also judge him for being albino, and he has sensed a similar homophobia. But at least there is safety and the necessary structures and laws exist that enable gays to live openly and not have to walk through life hiding their true identity. 

Ngoy says he will appeal the decision.

HT: Matuba Mahlatjie

Related articles

• South Africa begins removing Zim refugees: report (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Video: South Africa risks refoulement of gay Zimbabweans in chaotic repatriation (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Audio: LGBT asylum seekers in South Africa (madikazemi.blogspot.com) 
• Video: South African TV doco on LGBT refugees (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: South African TV doco on LGBT refugees

Source: SABC

A man carries the scars after a gang tried to hack his arms off with pangas and another was almost murdered by his own mother. Their crime? Being gay and born in countries that view homosexuality as an abomination. They have come to South Africa for refuge in fear of such persecution.

Read more »

In Scotland, gay Congolese man reaches sanctuary

Source: The Scotsman

By Chitra Ramaswamy

Max Moses was 22 when the cargo ship in which he was hidden docked in Aberdeen. His long, terrifying journey had begun far away in the Democratic Republic of Congo, his home country: a land rich in resources and blighted by war. Moses had spent most of his life in the port city of Boma, 300km from the capital, Kinshasa.

Now he was arriving in a port city on the other side of the equator, in the north-east of Scotland. It was the middle of the night. Moses was so traumatised, so disoriented, that he thought he was in South Africa.

"I didn't know where I was," he says, his voice thickly accented with his first languages, Lingala and French. "The first thing I did was go to a police station. I remembered what my mum used to tell me: stay strong, don't expect to get what you want. My English wasn't so good but I told them I was looking for safety. They were nice. I had a shower there. To be honest, I was smelly …" He looks embarrassed.

The following day the police telephoned the Home Office. "I told them my story," Moses continues, "and they said they didn't believe me. I didn't care. I felt like I had died."

We meet in the Scottish Refugee Council offices in Glasgow. Moses (not his real name) has been consulting on a play, Hearts Unspoken, which finished yesterday at the Tron. It's the first piece of theatre in Scotland to explore the experiences of gay asylum seekers. Written and directed by Sam Rowe and produced by arts organisation conFAB, it is based on transcripts from interviews Rowe did in London and Glasgow with gay asylum seekers.

Moses wasn't one of them but he has lived their experiences. "I didn't need to read the transcripts to know their stories," he says. "I am part of the story myself."

"Being gay isn't a criminal way to live," he continues. "If you have to suppress it, you lose who you are. When you cherish it, you feel more like yourself. More free. You can walk around saying, 'Hey, this is me.' That's what I want to do."

Moses is a shy, stocky man with a sweet, round face who seems much younger than his 26 years. He speaks quietly, and when he's talking about something particularly painful his voice quivers and he begins to stutter. He is fastidious, dressed in sky-blue deck shoes, jeans and a grey cardigan neatly buttoned over a checked shirt.

"When it came to clothes I always made a real effort," he says of his childhood growing up in military barracks in Boma. His father, a lieutenant in the DRC armed forces, was away most of the time in Goma, on the other side of the country. Moses, an only child, was very close to his mother.

"My mum knew I was different. I didn't like manly films like Scarface. I liked French books about love. My mum never asked me why I was reading these books. We would just talk about them together."

Read more »

Do we need an LGBT underground railroad?

By Joe Mirabella

As African nations like Uganda, Ghana, Congo, and others continue their witch hunt against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and perceived LGBT people, there is a growing need for a new underground railroad.

Our community is being hunted, beaten, raped, and murdered for their sexual orientation and gender identity. This is not hyperbole, life could not be worse for our LGBT brothers and sisters in many regions of Africa.

Even those who escape the most horrendous murderers in places like the Congo to more tolerant countries like South Africa, they are left homeless and tortured by their own family members.

24-year old Junior Mayema fled the Congo for South Africa after her mother tried to inject her with gasoline after learning she is a lesbian - but only after an exorcism failed to "rid her of evil spirits." Once in South Africa, she was kicked out of home after home, as her Congolese community discovered her sexual orientation.

Paul Canning covers LGBT refugee issues every day on LGBT Asylum News. His site is filled with stories of those who escape their torturous nations with the hope of discovering a new life in a more tolerant society, only to find a less than friendly immigration system waiting to send them back into the grips of hell.

Despite the challenges they face establishing legal status in their new country, they still have an opportunity at life, like Robert Segwanyi who was spared deportation. Paul Canning led a campaign on Change.org to spare him deportation back to Uganda.

Frankly, if Paul had not done this, Robert would have surely been killed upon his arrival in Uganda. Robert is safe now. He is free in the UK because of the kindness of thousands perfect strangers who signed Paul's petition.

But for every person who gets out there are hundreds left to fend for themselves. John Bosco told me about the life of Ugandan gays in prison. He said:

"There are no beds in prisons in Uganda - no mattresses - just the concrete floor. The prisons are packed. You sleep on one side. You don't have room to turn around," John recounted. 

"There are no toilets, there is no running water. There are buckets where everyone eats. No blankets, no curtains. It is hell. It is even worse than the place that they keep pigs," John explained.

Life is getting worse for Uganda's gays and lesbians, as an active witch hunt pursues anyone showing any signs of homosexuality, like not marrying or dating women. Who cares if you just have not met the right woman? If you don't have a girlfriend or wife, your life could be in danger.

Uganda could soon pass a law that would give gays and lesbians the death penalty. Few people realize, the law also makes it illegal to be supportive of gay rights, so straight people who are not vehemently anti-gay could also face persecution - leaving Uganda's LGBT people with no where to turn.

LGBT people in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other Western nations live relatively comfortable lives in comparison. Yes, we have our problems to deal with at home, but we also have the capability of helping our brothers overseas who are facing the worst circumstances imaginable - rape, torture, imprisonment, and death.

During the holocaust, people sheltered Jews and others being persecuted by the Nazis. An underground railroad shepherded some victims to safety. In the United States, an underground railroad moved African Americans from the South to the North where they could live freely and help others escape.

Clearly there is a need for this now. There are literally thousands of people who need to be rescued from oppressive populations, but the task of removing them to safety is not easy. A network of volunteer families, lawyers, corporations, and elected officials must work in concert to ensure the safe harbor of those in danger.

I don't pretend to be an expert on how to make this happen, but the need is there. I see it every day. I guess the first question to ask starts with you. Would you be willing to let a perfect stranger live in your home for a period of time while they negotiate the legal and immigration systems? Would you be willing to be a part of the new underground railroad?

Related articles

• Change.org protests removal by UK of gay Ugandan Robert Segwanyi (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Ugandan gay refugee recounts horror of imprisonment (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• How the Home Office is misusing law in gay Ugandan asylum seeker case (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• UK LGBT asylum activists react strongly to Ugandan activist comments (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Life as a gay refugee in South Africa

Junior Mayema

By Junior Mayema

Life in South Africa as a gay black foreigner is a horrendous nightmare. Well, many days I wish it were just a nightmare. But it is the reality for me. This reality is one full of intolerance, discrimination, and prejudice. I am a refugee and a gay activist – this is my story.

I fled my home after my mother tried to inject me with a syringe full of gasoline when she discovered that I was gay. After leaving my mother’s house, I began living with my father and I attended Bandundu University. I became friends with other gay students at the university and began to date and experiment. During this time, my father saw a picture taken of me kissing another man. After confronting me, my father and mother forced me into a “healing process” run by a pastor. I was made to fast for days in order to expel the “devil spirit” out of my body.

When I did not change my behavior, my father spread the news of my homosexuality to the community. Local boys began to beat me. I was particularly weary of a notorious group that hunted homosexuals. My friends and family shunned and banished me. My life was in danger and I had nowhere to go, so I came to South Africa.

I came full of hope that things would get better; that I would be able to live my life without fear of being persecuted for who I am. And in some ways I do feel safer here than I did in Congo. But after being here for a year, I can honestly say that this hope did not come true.

Life is tough here. Firstly, there is a lot of homophobia in the Congolese community in South Africa. When I first arrived, I lived with my cousin. When he found out from my family in Congo that I was gay, he kicked me out on the street. My mother ensured that no other family member in South Africa took me in after that. Since then I have moved around a lot, living with different Congolese people, but the story is always the same: once they detect that I am gay, they kick me out.

I also lived in some shelters and there I experienced xenophobia from South Africans. Even some members from the South African LGBTI community were not helpful. Their priority is to help South African LGBTI individuals, but other LGBTI refugees, like myself, have less access to support groups and assistance. It is tiring to be reminded every day that you are ‘not a South African’, and it hurts even more when it comes from other LGBTI people.

I wish I could just get to my feet and find a job. But finding a job in South Africa is tough enough as it is; trying to find a job as an openly gay foreigner is close to impossible. I have been looking for a job since I came here and I felt that most of the managers were judging me by my ‘gay’ physical appearance. Although the South African constitution protects LGBTI people from discrimination, homophobia is deeply rooted in South African society.

The majority of South Africans, like in most other African countries, think homosexuality is a western culture emulated by some African youths who are being recruited by white sugar daddies into homosexuality.

What can be done to change the desperate situation that I and countless other LGBTI refugees in South Africa are facing? Changing the culture of homophobia is difficult, but it has to be done, step by step. More people need to start campaigning against homophobia within our communities. We need to raise awareness and take action against xenophobia and racism in parts of the South African LGBTI community. We need to create a shelter or accommodation for LGBTI refugees in South Africa to help them get on their feet.

We have to build up a job referral system for LGBTI people to tolerant or ‘gay-friendly’ businesses and managers.

It is unlikely that things will get better in the near future. Yesterday I got kicked out by yet another Congolese host, on my 24th birthday. But hope is what dies last.

Junior Mayema is a volunteer with People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP)

Related articles

• Video: South Africa risks refoulement of gay Zimbabweans in chaotic repatriation (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Audio: LGBT asylum seekers in South Africa (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: The silent victims of rape

Source: AlJazeeraEnglish

Warning: This video contains disturbing images



Hundreds of thousands of men have been raped by other men. Some of them have been gang-raped repeatedly and over a period of many years.

It is a sex crime that is so common the numbers almost equal that of female victims during times of war.

It is a double taboo with hidden victims. And it is a secret so well kept that even the UN has been accused of overlooking it.

So, why have the silent victims of this crime been ignored for so long? And what legal resources and support should they be given?

Inside Story discusses with guests: Louise Aubin, the deputy director of international protection at the UNHCR; Chris Dolan, the director of the Refugee Law Project; and Will Storr, contributing writer for the Guardian and the author of The Rape of Men.

Related articles

• The rape of men (guardian.co.uk)

Amnesty wants overhaul of UK forced removals

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Amnesty International

The UK Government must conduct a complete and radical overhaul of the current system of enforced removals from the UK, according to a new briefing and campaign launched today by Amnesty International UK.

Private security companies, contracted by the UK Government, have reportedly used dangerous and improper control and restraint techniques. In the 2010 case of Jimmy Mubenga at least, these appear to have resulted in someone’s death. One such technique was nick-named by contractors “Carpet Karaoke”, as it involved forcing an individual’s face down towards the carpet with such force that they were only able to scream inarticulately ‘like a bad karaoke singer’. It involves the seated detainee being handcuffed, with a tight seatbelt through the cuffs and their head pushed down between their legs. There is a serious risk of death by positional asphyxia when this technique is used.

Other cases featured in the Amnesty briefing include a Moroccan national who claims his arm was broken when he was restrained by his arms and legs and was dropped down the stairs of the airplane; and a refused asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who said he struggled to breathe and feared he was going to die when security staff put a knee on his chest and sat on him, after he resisted his removal at Heathrow.

Sources with direct working experience of enforced removals have told Amnesty about serious failings in the training of private contractors conducting forced removals. Staff are trained in control and restraint techniques that are unsuitable for use on aircraft; there is no mandatory training in the safe use of handcuffs and restraints; and there is no watertight system in place to ensure that those accredited to conduct removals have received the required level of training. The reportedly widespread use of sub-contractors to fill staff shortages also raises further serious concerns about training and accountability.

The new campaign, backed by Jimmy Mubenga’s widow Adrienne Makenda Kambana, urges people to go to www.amnesty.org.uk/removal and take action by writing to Home Secretary Theresa May, urging independent monitoring of all enforced removals and improved training for removals staff.

Read more »

New report documents LGBT in DR Congo, reports possible anti-homosexuality bill revival

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

A new report by the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRBC) has documented the situation for LGBT in the vast and wartorn African country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

As result of its legacy as a Francophone country (as opposed to former British colonies) homosexual activity is not prohibited by law in the DRC. However, some sources indicate that homosexual relationships can be criminalized under the public decency provisions in the Congolese Penal Code (Code pénal congolais)

Article 176 of the Congolese Penal Code reads as follows: [translation]:

“A person who engages in activities against public decency will be liable to a term of imprisonment of eight days to three years and/or fined twenty-five to one thousand zaires [former currency]”.

According to a written response in 2009 by the Minister of Development Cooperation (Coopération au développement) in Belgium to a question from a member of the Senate (Sénat), [translation] “in practice, prosecution for homosexuality is very rare” in the DRC. But the IRBC could not find any further information on prosecutions.

However, in October 2010, a bill that would criminalize homosexuality was presented in the Parliament of the DRC. The National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) deemed the bill admissible. According to Jean Bedel Kaniki, the President of Groupe Hirondelles Bukavu (GHB), an organization that defends the rights of LGBT people in the DRC, the bill was sent to the socio-cultural committee (comité socioculturel), which is responsible for ensuring that it does not violate the Constitution.

Kaniki told the Research Directorate that the bill could be examined again during the June 2011 parliamentary session. Under this bill, people who engage in homosexual activity could be sentenced to 3 to 5 years in prison or fined 500,000 Congolese francs [500,000 Congolese francs (cUS$500)]. Members of associations that defend the rights of homosexuals could also face prison sentences.

Kaniki predicted in March that the bill would be passed:

"Elections are around the corner; therefore the vote of the parliament will depend on the role that law could play in political campaign and calculation."

The bill is reported to have been directly inspired by the infamous Ugandan 'kill gays' bill. And as in Uganda, US funded evangelicals are believed to behind the crimininalisation move. It's MP proponent Ejiba Yamapia, is an Evangelical Christian preacher.

Read more »

In South Africa, desperate African LGBT refugees face more challenges

Junior Mayema Nsamia (centre)

Source: Sunday Argus

By Timna Axel

It wasn't a difficult decision to leave home for Junior Mayema Nsamia – he knew he had to go when his mother nearly plunged a syringe full of petrol into him for being gay. Nsamia decided to flee his native Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but had to think carefully about his destination.

“In Congo it is not easy to travel to Europe or America. I thought, there is another country in Africa where I can live my life – it’s South Africa.” 

He arrived in Cape Town last February, one of the many sexual refugees – gays, lesbians, transsexuals and other sexual minorities – fleeing discrimination and increasingly looking to Cape Town for a chance to live free and open lives. Godfrey Magala, 23, arrived here on Monday after leaving his home in Uganda, a deeply religious nation where homosexual acts are punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Two weeks ago, the Ugandan parliament adjourned without voting on the infamous “anti-gay bill” – introduced in 2009 by MP David Bahati – that would have made homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment or death.

Magala was among several masked gay activists who were detained by the police for protesting against the controversial bill outside a high court in Kampala. Although he had tried to keep his homosexuality a secret by dating a woman, using two different Facebook accounts and “acting straight”, Magala’s cousin discovered he was gay soon after he received bail.

“It spread and everyone in my family got to know about it. They were so mad at me, they asked me to move out of the house. If I had insisted on staying they would have called the police.”

Magala was also fired from his job as an administrator for an NGO run by his uncle, a pastor. “If I was in a different country, I could have gone to the authoritiesand told them that I’d been sacked from my job wrongfully. But I couldn’t do that, because being gay is illegal in Uganda.”

Magala now shares a twobedroom flat in Sea Point with four other men, all Ugandan sexual refugees. They include Alex Tuiisme, 35, who spent more than a month in a Ugandan prison on homosexuality charges, and Juma Baker, 40, who performed on stage as a woman named Shakira.

Read more »

Video: 'World first' Australian TV series confronts the realities of where refugees come from

By Paul Canning

An Australian TV network is broadcasting a groundbreaking new reality series which follows six Australians as they trace the of refugees journey backwards.

Titled 'Go back to where you came from' - a reference to the slogan flung at many a refugee around the world - it is being described as the most ambitious documentary series ever made for Australian television and a 'world first'.

It starts 21 June during Refugee Week.

The series is being made by the national, government funded channel SBS, which provides multilingual and multicultural radio and television services and was started in the 1970s under a Liberal (conservative government). The six Australians with deeply differing views on refugees and asylum-seekers end up where many of Australia's refugees and asylum-seekers do come from: the dangerous streets of Baghdad in Iraq and Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SBS commissioning editor Peter Newman says the show was designed to show the full complexity of the issues.

"I feel it's going to be hugely talked about. We're not taking sides. The show itself is editorially neutral.

"What we wanted to achieve was . . . emotional engagement. It's a subject SBS has a real interest in but we wanted to make some must-watch television."

Raye Colbey, 63, lives opposite the Inverbrackie Detention Centre in the Adelaide Hills. She has no sympathy for the asylum seekers who died in December 2010 as a result of their boat hitting Christmas Island. “It served the bastards right,” she says.

The six featured range in age from 21 to 63, come from all over Australia and differ in their political views from strongly opposing the detention of asylum-seekers to wanting to - like the show's title - send all of them back.

Read more »

International pressure on anti-gay laws in Africa must not stop

The Musevenis and Obamas

Source: The Guardian

By Paul Canning

When the Ugandan government announced that the anti-homosexuality bill was on hold, those pushing it immediately blamed international pressure on President Yoweri Museveni. Pastor Martin Ssempa said that the bill was "being deliberately killed largely by the undemocratic threats of western nations".

He has a point. A campaign delivered half a million signatures to Museveni, various governments lobbied, the Germans said they'd cut aid, and now the US Congress has amended financial legislation (with bipartisan support) that would cut aid to countries deemed to be persecuting gay people. Introducing the legislation, congressman Barney Frank highlighted Uganda and noted that "the US has a fairly influential voice in the development area".

Timothy Geithner, the US treasury secretary, has now said in a letter to Frank that his Treasury department "will continue to instruct the US executive directors at each of the MDBs [multilateral development banks] to seek to channel MDB resources away from those countries whose governments engage in a pattern of gross violations of human rights".

Pressure is also mounting from Europe. The European parliament passed a resolution in December "reminding" Africa that "the EU is responsible for more than half of development aid and remains Africa's most important trading partner" and that "in all actions conducted under the terms of various partnerships" that sexual orientation is a protected category of non-discrimination.

How financial pressure will play out remains to be seen. This month massive US funding for improving Malawi's power supply network went through despite that country criminalising lesbians.

Someone blinked regarding Malawi but there is undoubtedly more pressure on governments who repress gay people than ever before. Germany didn't blink and did cut Malawi aid.

Like Uganda, moves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to criminalise gay people have also stalled – again diplomats have raised their concerns. But now there's a backlash.

In Uganda, Ssempa presented a two-million-signature petition to parliament on 7 April demanding that the anti-gay bill be passed (and damn the consequences). In Cameroon there is a huge fuss over European Union funding for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocacy group.

Read more »

Congo homosexuality criminalisation bill delayed, not dead

Image via Wikipedia  

Source: African Activist

The Congolese Parliament sent a bill that would criminalise homosexuality to the Socio-Cultural Committee on 22 October 2010. In a Behind the Mask interview with Jean Bedel Kaniki of Hirondelles Bukavu, an LGBTI organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it does not appear that the bill was considered by the session of Parliament ending 15 March 2011. Kaniki predicts that it will be debated in Parliament in June.

Behind the Mask is aware that the bill was not debated by the Socio-cultural Committee during the last and current session of parliament.

Kaniki said it is unlikely that it will be debated during the current session of parliament that ends on the 15 March 2011 since “there have been more pressing issues debated during the last and current sessions of parliament. My prediction is that it will be debated during the next session that will start in June this year.”

“If nothing is done, considering the support the bill has received in the public opinion, the parliament will probably pass the law that criminalizes homosexuality. Elections are around the corner; therefore the vote of the parliament will depend on the role that law could play in political campaign and calculation. “

The Sexual Practices Against Nature Bill will, if passed, criminalize homosexuality and sexual practices with animals such as zoophilia and bestiality

It will also criminalise any activities that promote the rights of LGBTI persons. Section 174h3 of the Bill stipulates that, “all publications, posters, pamphlets, (or) films highlighting or likely to arouse or encourage sexual practices against nature are forbidden within the territory of the DRC and “all associations that promote or defend sexual relations against nature are forbidden within the territory of the DRC.”

Any offender contravening this Bill will be punished by 3 to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of 500,000 Congolese francs (Section 174h1).

Hirondelles Bukavu has struggled to raise funds to challenge this bill in DRC.

In US, law students win one gay Congolese asylum - and for many more

Professor Deborah Anker LL.M. ’84, HIRC director, with Defne Ozgediz ’11, Gianna Borroto ’11 and Sabrineh Ardalan, clinical instructor. Students in Harvard’s Immigration and Refugee Clinic take on about 50 asylum cases per year, as well as appellate work, including in the Supreme Court.

Source: Harvard Law Bulletin

By Elaine McArdle

After countless hours of interviewing their client, digging through documents and working with experts to prepare for two court hearings, students in the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic got what they were after: a grant of asylum.

Their client was a 25-year-old from the Democratic Republic of Congo — a man not much older than they are — who had been violently beaten by youths in his neighborhood in Congo, because he is gay and dared to think that gay people should be treated equally. When the decision from the judge came in the mail — asylum granted — the young man was ecstatic. That would have been reward enough for Lauren Kuley and Connor Kuratek.

Then came a note from the young man’s mother, who now lives in Kenya. “[T]hank you so much for the great work successfully done in your efforts towards granting my child permanent stay documents in the USA,” she wrote. “May God Almighty bless you forever.”

Under the direction of Clinical Professor Deborah Anker LL.M. ’84, students at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic work on about 50 asylum cases a year, as well as other cases such as family reunification, visas for people who’ve cooperated with American law enforcement, special immigrant juvenile cases, and appellate work, including in the U.S. Supreme Court. For the past 25 years, the clinic has been a leader in developing the law of refugee status in the U.S., through client representation, federal court litigation, international and domestic advocacy, and training of students and adjudicators. Students represent clients from around the world fleeing life-threatening situations.

Read more »

Africans and Asians attracted to Latin America as a migration route

Image via Wikipedia   

Source: UNHCR

By Mariana Echandi

Yakpaoro is part of a new trend in South America. The refugee from Guinea is one of a growing number of Africans and Asians, many of them refugees, making their way to the continent before joining mixed migration routes from the south to the north.

UNHCR statistics show that so far this year between five and 40 per cent of total asylum applications submitted in various Latin American countries were lodged by nationals from Asia and Africa. In the past, these countries were almost exclusively hosting refugees from regional states, especially Colombia.

This new trend in the region as well, as the risks that people in migration flows face – kidnapping, extortion, rape and other serious human rights violations – will be discussed at an important meeting Thursday in Brasilia on refugee protection, statelessness and mixed migratory movements in the Americas. Senior UNHCR officials will join representatives from 20 countries at the gathering, to be hosted by Brazil’s Justice Ministry.

Read more »

In Congo, a young lesbian "nearly lynched"

Image via Wikipedia  

Source: WISH

By Thierry

[Google translation]

In the Congolese province of South Kivu was recently a 21-year-old woman nearly lynched because of their sexual orientation. Reported that the Congolese Association Hirondelles gay-Bukavu. The facts have played out in the village Cinjoma I Mudaka in the territory (South Kivu).

The woman was the accusation that she had sexual relations with other women in the village. By intervention by the administrator of the territory Mudaka could avoid the worst.
On September 4, 2010 a woman went to the village chief of Cinjoma I to tell her that she had caught the 21-year-old to her adult cousin. The news spread like wildfire through the village.

The cousin, the so-called "victim" had to participate in a prayer meeting to be liberated. The other woman was described as "witch". The villagers wanted to bring her to life and thus protect the village for its "evil influence".
The administrator of the territory was aware of the plans of the villagers. He contacted the police, national intelligence and the military to prevent a fatal outcome. The administrator warned the villagers that they should not kill the lesbian. If they did so, then the perpetrators are brought to justice.

The two women are now caught "undesirable" in their village and in surrounding villages. Day after day they are taunted by the other villagers.

The association Hirondelles-Bukavu is unhappy about this flagrant violation of human rights. No one shall be discriminated against or attacked because of his sexual preference, it sounds.  Hirondelles-Bukavu is deeply concerned about the situation and wants the court an investigation anyway. The association also wants the government is doing everything possible to protect people who are persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Israeli policy on refugees comes under scrutiny in award-winning documentary

Source: Haaretz

By Riva Gold

“The issue of refugees is not foreign to us; not to Jews, and not to the State of Israel,” says award-winning filmmaker Shai Carmeli-Polak. Shai’s documentary, “Ha'plitim,” (The refugees) seeks to expose the moral and legal questions underlying refugee status in Israel.

The film follows African asylum-seekers as they cross the Egypt-Israel border to escape life-threatening conditions, and won the Bronze Olive Award at the Montenegro International TV Festival in 2009. Shai captures their arrival and detention in Israel, interspersed with scenes of parliamentary debates surrounding Israel's policies on refugees.

The film's release started with a few 2009 screenings in other countries, but is now on a tour across Israel, accompanied by talks from Carmeli-Polak. The film recently had a screening party in its honor at the African Refugee Development Center in Tel Aviv.

While Israel is party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the government has not yet adopted asylum legislation. An approximate 17,000 asylum-seekers have fled to Israel from Sudan, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Ivory Coast. Many have been detained in prison camps and over 270 have been returned to Egypt.

“It’s a humanitarian crisis,” says Carmeli-Polak, who became an activist for the refugee community in 2007. “People are arriving from war-torn countries, and the government wants to just give them food and send them back.”

Read more »

In Congo, a 'calm' debate on criminalising homosexuality

Image via Wikipedia  

Source: afrol News

The Kinshasa parliament is in the process of discussing legislation that will prohibit homosexuality, or "unnatural sexual practices." But the debate climate in Congo is much calmer than in neighbouring Uganda.

According to reports in the government-close Kinshasa newspaper 'La République', Congolese MP Ejiba Yamapia is currently gathering support for a bill formulated by him that would forbid certain "unnatural sexual practices," including same-sex relations.

Congo Kinshasa (DRC), along with most Central and West African nations, does not have any legislation regarding the country's sexual minorities. This is mostly due to the fact that homosexuality is an issue not known to the general population, as same-sex relations typically find other manifestations in traditional cultures.

However, according to pro-gay activists in the region, the loud anti-homosexuality debate in neighbouring countries such as Uganda has also been noted in Kinshasa, with local politicians taking interest in the "exotic" issue.

Deputy Yamapia told 'La République' that his proposal would imply some minor changes to the Congolese penal code, including "unnatural sexual practices" such as same-sex and man-animal relations as illegal and "immoral" conduct. Mr Yamapia foresees prison penalties and fines for practicing homosexuals.

Read more »