European Union High Court Bans Sexuality Tests For Gay Asylum Seekers

Via Newsweek:

The Court of Justice of the European Union, which interprets EU law to ensure that it is equally applied in all EU countries, today ruled that refugees who claim asylum based on their homosexuality should not have to undergo invasive tests to prove it, including detailed questioning on their sexual habits. The Luxembourg-based court said that determining a refugee’s sexuality must be carried out in a way that respects human dignity. The judgement was made in response to an appeal from three refugees, including a Ugandan and one from an unnamed Muslim country, who tried to seek asylum in the Netherlands, for fear of being persecuted in their home country. Each was denied asylum on the grounds that their sexual orientation had not been proven. Today the court ruled that the credibility of an asylum claim on the basis of homosexuality could not be rejected just because the person in question refuses to answer questions about their personal circumstances. While national authorities are entitled to interview asylum applicants, they must do so in a way that does not violate the right of the asylum seekers private and family life.

Headline Of The Day

Details from the Associated Press.

Ugandan Group Issues Urgent Appeal For Aid In Helping HIV Volunteer Flee Country

GEHO Uganda has issued an urgent appeal for financial assistance in helping a Ugandan HIV/AIDS volunteer flee her country. The woman is currently in hiding and is being sought by police after being accused of violating Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act through her work. Details:

On April 11, the Gender-Equality and Health Organisation (GEHO) Uganda, a community-based organization in Jinja, Eastern Uganda, posted an urgent appeal for travel funds for a One Way airline ticket to Canada for Dorcas Awena, 26, a longtime volunteer for their AIDS program. GEHO was set up to provide desperately-needed medical, legal and psychological support, including safe houses and legal aid, for the LGBTQ community of Jinja, Eastern Uganda - after initial introduction of the "Kill the Gays" bill. Awena fled into hiding after police raided GEHO's offices, and six local radio stations publicly broadcast her name as someone accused of violating the anti-homosexuality law. As of Thursday afternoon, April 10, Awena had avoided a third attempt by the police to arrest her. GEHO still needed $300 to cover her plane ticket. Your donation to the Safe Passage Fund will be applied to cover the balance of Awena's air ticket and a travel stipend ($800). Monies raised beyond this amount will help other LGBTQ activists and allies in Uganda, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere in immediate danger who need safe passage and asylum.

About the Safe Passage Fund:

Right now, LGBTQ activists are under attack in Uganda and need your support. The Safe Passage Fund was created to provide immediate assistance to LGBTQ activists who are at-risk of violence, life-imprisonment or even death. In partnership with our sister fund, Urgent Action Fund - Africa, the Safe Passage Fund makes rapid grants within 1-7 days to ensure the safety, and if necessary, evacuation, of these courageous individuals.

From the appeal: "Your tax-deductible donation will be quickly directed to the neediest cases. Thank You!" The Safe Passage Fund is a sister operation to the Urgent Action Fund.

Donate here.

About Iran's Gay Underground Railroad

A fascinating story from Vocativ:

For years, Iranians have crossed into neighboring Turkey to escape persecution for being gay. Once over the border and beyond the reach of Iran’s hard-line religious laws, they transform from bankers, engineers, students and artists into refugees, making their case for asylum abroad. Those who have successfully made it to North America, Europe or Australia, as well as those still waiting in Turkey as their applications are processed with the United Nation’s top refugee agency, make up a loose network of advisers who help newcomers. Turkish and international activists and NGOs round out the modern-day “underground railroad” that involves more information sharing than hiding and smuggling—though those arrangements are occasionally made as well.

Hit the link and read about one couple's journey.

Scotland Offers Asylum To Gay Ugandans

Via the Herald Scotland:

Scotland is to offer asylum to Ugandans facing persecution under the country's oppressive new legislation against its gay population. Humza Yousaf, Minister For External Affairs, has written to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague detailing the Scottish Government's gesture to welcome "any Ugandan" persecuted by the new laws. It comes on the back of an outcry from the international community at the Ugandan anti-gay legislation and concern over the welcome being extended to countries with anti-gay laws during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. With prominent members of the Ugandan government due in Glasgow this summer, the Scottish Government will also meet representatives of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) groups to discuss proposals on handling human rights issues during the event.

Reading the above-linked article, it's not clear if the Scottish government actually has the power to offer asylum independent of UK approval. Readers?

BRITAIN: Gov't Slammed For Questions Asked Of LGBT Asylum Seekers

Britain's Home Office is under for fire for "shockingly degrading" questions asked of LGBT people who seek asylum on the basis of persecution in their home countries. Via the Guardian:

A confidential Home Office document leaked to the Observer reveals how one bisexual asylum seeker was asked a series of lurid questions by a Home Office official, including: "Did you put your penis into x's backside?" and "When x was penetrating you, did you have an erection? Did x ejaculate inside you. Why did you use a condom?" The document reveals that during five hours of questioning in a UK detention centre, the male asylum seeker was also asked: "What is it about men's backsides that attracts you?" and "What is it about the way men walk that turns you on?" The questions, typed up by a Home Office employee, and dated last October, have been branded an "interrogation". The Home Office on Saturday admitted that staff were "not permitted to ask inappropriate or intrusive questions", but added that attempts to determine an individual's sexual orientation were conducted "as sensitively as possible".

A spokesman for the LGBT rights group Stonewall reacted: "Valuable time and resources is spent attempting to 'prove' a claimant is gay rather than establishing whether they have a legitimate fear of persecution." (Tipped by JMG reader Rodger)

European Union Grants Asylum Eligibility For LGBT Refugees From Anti-Gay Nations

Excellent news from the EU. The BBC has the story:

The EU's top court has ruled that homosexuals from Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal who fear imprisonment in their home country have grounds for asylum in EU member states. The Netherlands had asked the court for advice about three gay citizens of those countries seeking asylum. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) says asylum can be granted in cases where people are actually jailed for homosexuality in their home country. ECJ rulings apply to all EU members. Homosexual acts are illegal in most African countries, including key Western allies such as Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Botswana. In June a report by Amnesty International said homophobic attacks had reached dangerous levels in sub-Saharan Africa and must stop.

IMPORTANT: The ruling stipulates that it will be up to each EU nation to determine if imprisonment is "applied in practice" in the applicant's home country. The "mere existence" of a ban on homosexuality is not grounds in itself for eligibility. (Tipped by JMG reader Matthew)

CANADA: Asylum Requests From LGBT Russians To Be "Seriously" Considered

Canadian Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said yesterday that asylum requests from LGBT Russians who claim persecution will be seriously considered. 

Chris Alexander said Monday in Surrey, B.C., that Russia has taken the wrong path in restricting the fundamental rights of its gay community, and that any refugee claims “related to this particular issue will of course be looked at very seriously by our very generous system.” Lawyer Rob Hughes, who is representing two gay Russian men claiming refugee status in Canada, says he expects more Russians to make claims based on sexual orientation. “It’s quite encouraging … It is very positive news,” he added about Mr. Alexander’s statement. “People are not feeling safe there." Canada also resettles refugees living in camps abroad, and former immigration minister Jason Kenney, now the Employment and Social Development Minister, adopted a policy of trying to resettle gay refugees fleeing Iran and Iraq. Mr. Kenney said in January he “cannot think of a more obvious case of persecution.” There are typically between 140 and 225 Russians a year who arrive in Canada and claim refugee status, and about half are usually accepted. The Immigration and Refugee Board said it does not keep reliable detailed statistics on how many claim asylum because they are fleeing persecution because of their sexual orientation.

(Tipped by JMG reader David)

Snowden Asks Ecuador For Asylum

Home-Schoolers Lose US Asylum Bid

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a German home-schooling family who applied for asylum on the grounds of religious persecution. Home-schooling is illegal in Germany and some families have lost custody of their children over the issue.

The U.S. grants safe haven to people who have a well-founded fear of persecution, but not necessarily to those under governments with laws that simply differ from those in the U.S., Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote in the court’s decision. “The German authorities have not singled out the Romeikes in particular or homeschoolers in general for persecution,” he wrote for the three-judge panel in the case, Uwe Romeike v. Eric Holder, Jr. Uwe Romeike said in an email on Wednesday that his family began home schooling to protect their children from bullying and teachings they didn’t agree with.

Unsurprisingly, the family's case has been championed by American evangelicals. Yesterday the Family Research Council denounced this week's ruling, claiming that the family has been "singled out and targeted by the Obama administration."  A petition to the White House in support of the family has over 120K signatures.  Lawyers for the family are vowing to take the case to the Supreme Court.

At #LGBTmedia13

The fourth annual Haas Convening is underway in Philadelphia, where about 70 LGBT journalists have gathered for brainstorming and training on critical issues facing the community. Among today's presenters are noted lawyer Lavi Soloway, who advocates for bi-national couples who face DOMA-related deportations.

Other issues on today's agenda include LGBT rights abroad and asylum rights, aging and seniors in the gay community, transgender rights, and the LGBT community's place in the labor movement. In the photo above, Shuya Ohno skypes in from the National Immigration Forum. Follow the goings-on via the Twitter hashtag #LGBTmedia13.  The Haas Convening is sponsored by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association.

Gay Ugandans Marry In Sweden

Sweden's The Local reports:

A couple who claim to be the first Ugandan men to be legally married face an uncertain future after recently tying the knot in a Swedish church, with one facing possible deportation that the other fears could result in his husband's death. Last weekend, Lawrence Kaala and Jimmy Sserwadda were all smiles as they exchanged vows in a crowded church in the north Stockholm suburb of Järfälla. "It feels great," Sserwadda tells The Local after the wedding, which was attended by more than one hundred guests – including Sweden's EU Minister Birgitta Ohlsson. "We had been separated in such a hostile environment; we didn't know if we'd ever see each other again."

The ceremony was supposed to be a fairy-tale ending to an improbable story for the two men who found themselves reunited in Sweden years after their relationship had been cut short due to persecution in their native Uganda. "Uganda is about the worst place in the world to live as someone who is openly gay," Sserwadda explains. But while Sserwadda's asylum application has been approved, Kaala learned just days before the ceremony that his application had been denied, meaning he will have to leave Sweden in two weeks if he doesn't file an appeal.

The couple fled Uganda in 2008 after one of them was arrested and beaten by police. (Tipped by JMG reader Jay)

On Gay Iranians Seeking UK Asylum

(Tipped by JMG reader Robert)

DC Gay Center To Help Asylum Seekers

Washington DC's LGBT Community Center has launched a program to aid asylum seekers who are escaping anti-gay persecution in their home countries. Via Washington Blade:

The program, called Center Global, is aimed at providing temporary housing, financial assistance and referrals to service providers for LGBT foreigners in the D.C. area who are going through the complicated process of applying for and awaiting approval for political asylum, according to Center director David Mariner and Center Global coordinator Matthew Corso. The two noted that legal groups have long provided pro bono legal representation for people going through this process, some of whom have fled their home countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Jamaica after encountering violent assaults and death threats due to their sexual orientation.

Donations are being accepted.

Ecuador Grants Asylum To Assange

Netherlands Grants Asylum To LGBT Iraqis

LGBT Iraqis facing persecution at home are now eligible for asylum in The Netherlands.

The situation facing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Iraq is so serious that they do now qualify for asylum in the Netherlands, immigration minister Gerd Leers said on Thursday. However, would-be refugees will have to prove they are from Iraq, the minister said in a briefing. His decision follows the publication of a foreign affairs ministry report which was highly critical of the treatment of homosexuals in Iraq and said in some areas they are deliberately targeted by armed militias.

The change is abrupt about-face for Minister Leers, who said in April that gay asylum seekers should "hide their homosexuality" in their home countries rather than seek refuge in The Netherlands. The new rule apparently only applies to Iraq although LGBT people from at least three other nations have recently sought asylum in The Netherlands.

Canada To Help LGBT Refugees

In a partnership with an LGBT group, Canada has announced a landmark asylum program to assist LGBT refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries.

Through the project, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will work with the Rainbow Refugee Committee to share the cost of sponsoring gay, lesbian, transgender, transsexual and bisexual refugees overseas to Canada. The department will provide $100,000 in assistance to cover three months of income support for the refugees upon their arrival here, while the Rainbow committee will offer orientation services, accommodation, food and other basic needs. “These funds are a welcome first step in response to the crisis facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people around the globe, at a time when 77 countries continue to criminalize homosexuality and five prescribe the death penalty,” said Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, the country’s largest LGBT human rights organization.

Too Butch For Asylum

American immigration officials examining the cases of gays seeking asylum here are often denying such requests if the applicants "don't look gay enough" to be persecuted in their home countries.

“Judges and immigration officials are adding a new hurdle in gay asylum cases that an applicant’s homosexuality must be socially visible,” said Lori Adams, a lawyer at Human Rights First, a nonprofit group, who advises people seeking asylum based on sexuality. “The rationale is that if you don’t look obviously gay, you can go home and hide your sexuality and don’t need to be worried about being persecuted.” Jhuan Marrero, 18, who was born in Venezuela but has lived — illegally — in New York since he was 4, said the immigration officer at his asylum interview last week challenged him about his macho demeanor. “I was brought up by my parents to walk and talk like a man,” said Mr. Marrero, who volunteers at the Queens Pride House, a gay and lesbian center in Jackson Heights. “The officer said: ‘You’re not a transsexual. You don’t look gay. How are you at risk?’ I insisted that if I was sent back to Venezuela, I would speak out about being gay and suffer the consequences.”

Some asylum attorneys have advised their clients to appear as flamboyant as possible during their hearings. Adding to the problem is a surge in applicants falsely claiming to be gay in order to escape economic problems in their home countries.

BRITAIN: Deportation Reprieve For Uganda's Brenda Namiggade

Ugandan citizen Brenda Namiggade was already being escorted to London's Heathrow airport tonight when word came that Britain's Home Office had granted a temporary reprieve to her deportation. This comes after gay activists earlier today served UK Home Secretary Theresa May with a petition bearing over 40,000 names.

According to the BBC, some in the British government doubt that Namiggade is actually a lesbian and suspect she is using the claim to stay in the country. Namiggade has repeatedly stated that she is gay and that she fears for her life should she be returned to Uganda.

Her lawyer, Abdulrahman Jafar, said he would argue that Ms Namiggade should be allowed to remain in the UK regardless of her sexuality. "The press coverage about her activities certainly expose her to a real risk if she is to be returned to Uganda," he said. Ms Namigadde, who was held at a detention centre just outside London, has told the BBC's Network Africa programme she was "shaking" with fear at the prospect of returning to Uganda. She said she fled to the UK in 2002 after being beaten and victimised because of her sexuality. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has said people facing persecution for their sexual orientation in Uganda should be given refugee status in other countries.

According to the head of the UK's Border Agency, an immigration judge had previously ruled Namigadde as "not homosexual."

BRITAIN: Activists Hold Kato Vigil Outside London's Uganda High Commission

LGBT activists staged a vigil for David Kato outside of London's Uganda High Commission today, after which they delivered a 40,000-name petition to UK Home Secretary Theresa May, demanding that Britain not send lesbian asylum-seeker Brenda Namigadde back to Uganda. Namigadde says she fears that she too will be murdered if forced to return. Add your name to the petition here.