Asylum Support Project
ASYLUM SUPPORT PROJECT NEWS
Please watch the website for upcoming meetings or contact our
, if possible with a mobile number, to register for email/text alerts.
Next meeting
Location:
32-36 Loman Street
Southwark
London SE1 0EH
Nearest Tube: Southwark, Jubilee line.
Map
Meetings are now held monthly. The intention is to bring together, first and foremost,
lesbian and gay asylum seekers and refugees, but also the professionals
working with them. Solicitors, community organisations and NGO’s are
encouraged to attend and we would urge them to pass the meeting details to
any lesbian & gay asylum seekers with whom they have contact.
The meetings may be a vital first point of contact for those who have
not yet made an asylum application, who have a real fear of persecution if
they return home. We will explore issues such as what an asylum claim based
on sexuality involves and how to access good quality representation. UKLGIG
volunteer solicitors will begin with presentations on key themes and there
will be an open discussion, providing an invaluable opportunity for
information sharing and mutual support.
More here.
Previous meetings have highlighted many vital and urgent issues, in particular over the
treatment of those in detention, their access to legal advice, the quality
of that advice and the inappropriate application of the fast track system to
those with sexuality-based asylum claims.
S.Chelvan, barrister at Mitre House
Chambers, has reported encouraging signs of dialogue with the Home Office
and the appointment of UKLGIG as observers to the Advisory
Panel on Country Information (APCI), the body charged with monitoring the
accuracy of the country information produced by the Home Office, gives
grounds for cautious optimism.
It has been noted that UKLGIG, in a joint project with ILPA (the
Immigration Law Practitioners Association), are currently developing
Sexual & Gender Identity Guidelines for
adoption by practitioners and judges throughout the UK in the determination
of asylum claims. S.Chelvan has also addressed immigration
judges about issues relating to sexual orientation cases. We are optimistic
that this will be repeated.
Other important initiatives have been reported. The UK was one of 54
nations who gave their support to a
statement by Norway to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on December
5th., 2006. The statement condemned human rights violations directed
against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
UKLGIG was one of many NGOs who signed a
Press Release
celebrating Norway's historic initiative.
In a powerful speech to the Unison LGBT conference in November 2006, Ian
McCartney MP, Minister for Trade at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, said
"the next great challenge for those of us committed to equality is to expand
our campaign against injustice beyond our own borders." "The
government is determined to bring the same determination to international
gay rights issues as we have done at home." Read the speech in full
here
UKLGIG are maintaining pressure on the government to stand by these
commitments.
Some other important points from previous meetings:
Country files
UKLGIG asylum project volunteers have been working hard to produce up to
date country information for as many as possible of the countries where
persecution of Lesbians and Gay men is known to exist. Detailed
evidence is vital to support all applications for asylum. It is intended
that the country information gathered will be made available to solicitors
who, if working under the constraints of legal aid funding, often do not
have the resources to conduct in depth research on a case by case basis.
Legal Representation
It was emphasised that applicants who can clearly show that they have
tried (but have been unable) to secure proper legal representation, may be
able to persuade courts to adjourn their cases for a short time until a
suitable solicitor is found.
In this connection, UKLGIG is working hard to expand a rota of
specialist solicitors with expertise in sexuality-based claims.
Please contact our
for more on this.
Legal Aid funding limits
We hear of many asylum applicants who are left without legal
representation after a refusal or a failed appeal. It is true that a
solicitor is unlikely to apply for further funding from the legal services
commission unless he/she considers the case has a good chance of success. It
is, however, recognised that the asylum applicant should have a right to a
second opinion and there is, therefore, a procedure to appeal against the decision
by a solicitor not to continue with a case. Solicitors have an
obligation to advise their clients of this procedure for appeal, but too
many do not do so.
Victims of torture
It is important to emphasise that if an asylum applicant alleges they
have been tortured, and they are accepted for assessment by the Medical
Foundation for the care of victims of torture, their asylum claim will
not be fast-tracked (or it will be withdrawn from the fast-track system).
There are several routes by which a torture survivor might arrive at the
MF. Those who have recently fled to Britain are likely to be referred by one
of three main front-line agencies that try to smooth the path for new asylum
seekers - the Refugee Council, the Refugee Arrivals Project or Migrant
Helpline, each of which liaises closely with members of the MF's Early
Intervention Team, which identifies those needing dedicated help. The team
also sees those who refer themselves. Doctors, community mental health teams
and refugee community organisations also refer cases. Immigration lawyers
send asylum applicants who, to support their claim, need documentation, by
way of an official medico-legal report, of the torture they have suffered,
and its lasting effects.
UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group began in 1993, as Stonewall Immigration
Group, when there was no provision in UK immigration rules to allow a
foreign person to live in the UK with their same sex partner and no
provision allowing people to claim asylum on the grounds that they feared or
experienced persecution because of their sexual orientation. Our service is
based in London but we provide assistance to anyone who telephones our
helpline, e mails us or attends our meetings.
We are currently funded from a range of different sources
including grants from foundations and trusts, membership fees, donations, a small amount of revenue from our website. Although there has been enormous change over the last 15 years
because of the work of the group, we continue to work for fairer rules in
respect to asylum and immigration for lesbians and gay men.
There is currently no other dedicated organisation tackling the multifaceted
problems faced by lesbian and gay asylum seekers in the UK.
Our aims
We will support those seeking asylum due to fear of persecution on the
grounds of their sexual orientation by:
• raising awareness amongst asylum seekers of the issues and the assistance
that is available;
• providing independent, quality legal information and advice on
immigration issues;
• providing the opportunity for regular meetings with each other to combat
isolation, to foster a sense of community and with it a sense of safety and
to integrate into the lesbian and gay communities in the U.K;
• providing an information sharing facility for those working with lesbian
and gay asylum seekers;
• creating a resource of information on those countries where persecution of
lesbians and gay men exists.
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