Press Release - November 22nd 2006

The UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group has today written to Liam Byrne, the Home Office Minister for Immigration, once again to urge the government to grant leave in the United Kingdom to all lesbian and gay asylum seekers from Iran.

This comes in the wake of yet another public hanging of an Iranian gay man on a charge of sodomy. Report by Iran Focus at http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9214
 

UKLGIG wrote:

"The brutal public hanging of Shahab Darvishi in Iran last week, on a charge of sodomy, is clear evidence that the lives of gay Iranian asylum seekers are seriously at risk if they are returned. The recent u-turn in policy by the Dutch Immigration Minister, Rita Verdonk, in offering protection to LGBT Iranian asylum seekers in Holland should be mirrored by the British government. The Group has therefore again asked Liam Byrne to follow suit by recognising the UK’s legal responsibility to protect lesbian and gay Iranians who are at risk of torture, ill treatment or execution if returned from the UK to Iran. "

Press Release - November 15th 2006.

“Home Office Listens To Lesbians & Gays”

The UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group’s fight to put the human rights abuses of LGBT people from around the world onto the agenda, has taken a big step forward with it’s appointment as an observer to the Advisory Panel on Country Information, APCI.

The APCI was set up to consider and make recommendations to the Secretary of State about the content of country information, which is produced by the Country of Origin Information Service, (COIS), at the Home Office.

UKLGIG will now input directly into the process of information gathering as it relates to human rights abuses of sexual minorities globally. It will be directing it’s researchers to feed information into the newly created LGBT section of the COI reports.

UKLGIG says “Our appointment as observer to the APCI is extremely significant as these COI reports are used by the Home Office and the Courts to decide LGBT asylum claims. We will be using our position to ensure that the reports are accurate and up to date”