- Stay Connected
Connect With Us
Egyptian Lesbian Denied Asylum by UK
Melanie Nathan, Nov 27-2010- Shrouk El-Attar, 18, has lived in the UK for three years after moving to Cardiff with her family, but she is now facing deportation as both her mother her applications for asylum were denied in the United Kingdom. The Home Office rejected El-Attar’s application last month, and she is currently being housed by the Border Agency while her case awaits a hearing at the High Court.
The teenager told the South Wales Echo: “I am terrified about the possibility of being forcibly deported to Egypt. “As a gay person, life in Egypt would be impossible for me. I would never be able to express my true self and would have to live in hiding.”
While homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, Human Rights Watch has condemned the country for the persecution of homosexuals. A Border Agency spokesman told the newspaper: “We will offer protection to anyone found by us – or the courts – to need it. “The Government has made it clear that it is committed to stopping the removal of asylum seekers who have had to leave countries because of their sexual orientation or gender identification.”
Comment Yet given the complexity of asylum cases in the UK one wonders if this is happening in fact and why so many asylum seekers have such great difficulty in the legal process. The US is no better- the proof of the persecution and perceived harm is often a stumbling block.
I believe Asylum should not be granted only on a case by case – fact – by- fact basis but that certain countries should be given a designation that depends on criteria of the country itself. The designation should contribute to the weight of the facts. For example a country like Uganda -if someone declares they are gay- they should be given immediate asylum without having to go through the court system, while careful not to exclude any countries, proof may be more difficult for some. Muslim Countries also should receive a designation. I am not sure how one would avoid fraud. It is very clear that any person in Uganda who is gay, lesbian or transgender person is a target for death and brutality.
“It is, however, for the applicant to demonstrate they are at risk of persecution and prove they would be at risk on return to their home country,” says the Home Office. This is where the difficulty comes in – especially in this case, where the stigma and persecution is more overtly stated for men; and less so for women, yet still women can be killed by family over shame attributed to being a lesbian, or forced into marriage.
“When people are found not to need our protection, we expect them to leave the country voluntarily or we will remove them as a last resort.” “We do not remove people where there are outstanding legal appeals.”
Friends are trying to raise money to help Al-Attar with her legal fees.
SOURCE – John Payne PinkPaper..com
melanie nathan
ntahan@privatecourts.com
Related articles
- Campaigners condemn asylum centre (guardian.co.uk)
- Deportation escorting turns into big business for private firms (guardian.co.uk)
- Failed asylum seekers: 100 have gone missing in six months (dailymail.co.uk)
- Sweden to send Kurdish Lesbian Couple back to Iraq to Face Certain Death (lezgetreal.com)
- US Sate Department Must offer Ugandan Gays Visas to USA (lezgetreal.com)
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
3 Responses to Egyptian Lesbian Denied Asylum by UK
Leave a Reply
Socialize
For A Gay Friendly Get Away
blog advertising is good for you
Now Trending
Movies Reimagined: Star Wars.2
JPMorgan Loss A Blessing In Disguise?
Sherrod Brown Opponent Mandel Under FBI Investigation
Repubs Want To Cripple Gov’s And Business’ Ability To Assess Need
Sandy, Utah LDS Church: No Cross-Dressing Your Kids For Halloween
Pat Robertson: It's Wrong To Bully LGBT People Unless You're Me
Kick-Ass Crew Waiting for Moretz to Reprize HitGirl for Sequel
NOM Hid Donors, Donations From Public In Prop 8 Fight
When Is A Lobbyist A Lobbyist?
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Jillian Michaels
Friend of Shrouk
April 22, 2011 at 7:27 pm
You can help Shrouk El-Attar by joining the facebook group ‘Save the Shrouk’ or by signing her petition here gopetition.com/petition/40922.html
many thanks
Smithie
November 28, 2010 at 8:13 am
These stories are heartbreaking. What can we do?
paul canning
November 28, 2010 at 4:48 am
Shrouk El-Attar – Petition http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40922/sign.html
@Mel
“Yet given the complexity of asylum cases in the UK one wonders if this is happening in fact and why so many asylum seekers have such great difficulty in the legal process. The US is no better- the proof of the persecution and perceived harm is often a stumbling block.
I believe Asylum should not be granted only on a case by case – fact – by- fact basis but that certain countries should be given a designation that depends on criteria of the country itself. The designation should contribute to the weight of the facts. For example a country like Uganda -if someone declares they are gay- they should be given immediate asylum without having to go through the court system, while careful not to exclude any countries, proof may be more difficult for some. Muslim Countries also should receive a designation. I am not sure how one would avoid fraud. It is very clear that any person in Uganda who is gay, lesbian or transgender person is a target for death and brutality.”
The UK system is set up to refuse, to find anything which undermines credibility. Asylum seekers are treated like criminals. Further. and I know this from the coalface, agents simply don’t believe it is possible to ‘prove that you are gay’.
This is ridiculous. Ask yourself how you’d prove *anything at all* ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. Of course you can ‘prove’! That sort of statement speaks to the culture which needs reforming in our Border Agency, as well as amongst the Immigration Judiciary.
Anyone who finds a decent lawyer, and they are becoming harder and harder to find, invariably wins. It is those who don’t like the Nigerian lesbian you have featured, or find one at the last minute, that get thrown violently onto a plane.
There is no understanding of what people are fleeing, why they might distrust authority and not claim at the airport and then talk in detail about their sex lives. Why they might claim for another reason. Why they might be unaware they could have a claim on sexual orientation grounds.
Agents and others involved in the system believe most cases are fraudulent but this is based on refusals – this person isn’t gay – and myself and many others know they are invariably wrong. Example, a gay Nigerian who has been refused and a good lawyer managed to get him out of detention at the last minute. He is so obviously gay that fellow Nigerians were harassing him in detention.
There is also, I believe, a lot of racism in the system, which I see in the treatment of Africans and Jamaicans, who are assumed to be liars and cheats.
The Netherlands has a policy of not returning to certain countries so your comment on Uganda – where any returnee to Kampala’s Entebbe airport faces police torture *at the airport* and a bribe to get out – makes sense.
LGBT asylum seems to be a non-issue in the USA. Why is that?