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PRESS RELEASE - June 6th 2008


UKLGIG win funding to assist detained LGBT asylum seekers.

UKLGIG are very concerned by reports of LGBT asylum seekers being harassed, humiliated and forced into extreme isolation. 

When detained, LGBT asylum seekers face a real risk of being abused and harassed because of their sexuality or gender identity.  The detention system does not take account of the needs of LGBT asylum seekers. For example, transmen are being detained in Yarlswood - a female-only detention centre; gay men are forced to live with other detainees from their country of origin who often hold the same the homophobic views as the society they are escaping from.

In order to combat the extreme isolation that LGBT asylum seekers face and offer them support, UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group will now regularly visit LGBT asylum seekers in detention centres.  The work is run by volunteers and funded with a £5,000 grant from the lottery distributor Awards for All.

 

Editors' Notes

UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group was founded in 1993 to assist same‑sex, bi‑national couples win the right for foreign partners to remain in the United Kingdom on the basis of their relationship.  The work of the group resulted in the first ever legislation in this country giving rights to lesbians and gay men.  From 1997 the group achieved increasing steps towards equality and with many of its recommendations being included in the Civil Partnership Act, immigration equality for same‑sex partners was finally achieved in December 2005.

Since 2004 UKLGIG has shifted its focus towards the problems faced by lesbian and gay asylum seekers.  The group is receiving more and more calls for help from lesbians and gay men seeking the protection of the UK, because they are persecuted in their home country.  There is currently very little support available for them and the group’s asylum seeker project is a vital lifeline - a place to meet others struggling with similar issues, a source of quality legal advice, of support and importantly of hope.

For further details please contact:

UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group
Tel: 020 7922 7812

 

 

... UKLGIG, UK Border Agency, UKVisas

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UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group      -     Registered Charity No 1101400     -      PO Box 51524, London SE1 7ZW