MSPs back asylum campaign for gay Syrian facing jail and torture

JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN: Take part in Scotland on Sunday's online petition below

POLITICAL pressure is mounting on the UK Government to reverse its decision to deport a gay Syrian teenager from Scotland to his homeland, where he faces almost certain imprisonment and torture.

Scotland on Sunday revealed last week that 19-year-old Jojo Jako Yakob was being held in Polmont Young Offenders' Institution awaiting deportation, despite evidence he had been tortured almost to death in Syria, where homosexuality is illegal.

Shirley-Anne Somerville, a Nationalist MSP for the Lothians, has lodged a parliamentary motion in support of our campaign to let Yakob stay in the country.

It has already been supported by several MSPs, including Jamie Hepburn, Roseanna Cunningham, Rob Gibson, Christina McKelvie, Patrick Harvie, Bill Kidd, Alex Neil, Joe FitzPatrick, Robin Harper, Elaine Smith, Gil Paterson, Sandra White, Iain Smith, Dr Bill Wilson, Dr Christopher Harvie, Jamie McGrigor and Michael Matheson.

Somerville said: "I felt that it was very important to raise a motion so that politicians of all parties could support the campaign. We need an urgent review of the cases currently ongoing in Scotland so that we don't have anyone sent home and face persecution and violence."

Pete Wishart MP, the SNP's home affairs spokesman, has taken up the case at Westminster and has vowed to make representations to the Home Office.

He said: "After Mr Yakob's terrible ordeal in Syria, it is unacceptable that the Home Office would consider sending him back. There is a very real risk that he would suffer further ill treatment or even possibly death. He has sought asylum in Scotland and I will make an immediate representation to the Home Office in an effort to overturn their ruling before his final hearing in May."

Yakob has appealed against the Home Office deportation order and has instructed top Scottish QC Mungo Bovey to fight his case. Yakob will appear before a full immigration hearing in Glasgow on May 7, when his fate will be determined.

A spokesman for Dundee law firm Caird Vaughan, which is representing Jojo, said: "Jojo has been overwhelmed and greatly touched by the tremendous support he has received from complete strangers since his plight was highlighted.

"He has asked us to thank everyone who has signed the Scotland on Sunday petition and also for their messages of support. Jojo is also extremely grateful to the politicians who have been shocked by his case and vowed to fight his corner."

Jojo fled his homeland two years ago after surviving a harrowing ordeal at the hands of Syrian police and prison guards, when he was arrested for distributing anti-government leaflets. Following his transfer from police interrogation, prison guards soon discovered that Jojo, a member of the repressed Kurdish minority in the Arab state, was homosexual. He then suffered horrific beatings and was assaulted so badly that he fell into a coma.

ONLINE PETITION

We, the undersigned, urge the British government to rescind the deportation order against Jojo Jako Yakob and grant him asylum to stay in this country. We believe it would be an act of inhumanity to force his return to Syria, where it is almost certain he would be tortured and even killed on account of his sexuality.

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