Two gay men win landmark court ruling over right to asylum in UK

Published on Wednesday 7 July 2010 16:22

GAY foreigners who fear persecution in their homeland stand a greater chance of being able to claim asylum in Britain, after law lords yesterday said they had a right under international law to live freely and openly as they chose.

In a landmark case, the Supreme Court backed the case of two gay men, from Cameroon and Iran, whose plea for asylum had been previously knocked back by the Court of Appeal.

The law lords declared that the ruling - which suggested the pair should act discreetly back home - had no basis under the 1951 Refugee Convention which offers asylum to anyone with "a well-founded fear of persecution".

In a bizarre comment after the ruling, one of the justices, Lord Rodger, declared that gay men had a right to live openly, so they could be "free to enjoy themselves going to Kylie concerts" and drink "exotically coloured cocktails".

The other Supreme Court justices also acknowledged that, from now on, more gays and lesbians were likely to have to seek protection in countries like the UK. That prompted warnings from migration groups that the ruling could be exploited by asylum-seekers and traffickers.

The two men had both presented evidence of physical violence in their home countries. The Cameroonian man, known as "T", said he had been attacked by a mob after he was seen kissing a male partner.

The Iranian, known as "J", faced punishments ranging from public flogging to execution, if found to have committed a homosexual act. In total, homosexual sex is illegal in about 70 of the world's 195 countries.

The Court of Appeal had found both men could conceal their sexual orientation to avoid the risk of being persecuted and neither had a "well-founded fear of persecution" which entitled them to protection under the UN Convention for refugees.

But the Supreme Court justices unanimously found that the test applied by the Court of Appeal was contrary to the convention and should not be followed in the future.

Lord Hope, deputy president of the court, said that to compel a homosexual to pretend that their sexuality does not exist or can be suppressed was to deny him his fundamental right to be who he is.

Lord Rodger added: "What is protected is the applicant's right to live freely and openly as a gay man."

The justices said the Home Secretary and tribunals should follow the same approach for lesbians.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, said last night: "We have already promised to stop the removal of asylum-seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution."

Jill Roberts, chief executive of the charity Refugee Action, said: "We are relieved that the Supreme Court has acknowledged that the discretion test is unacceptable and was effectively asking gay people to deny their own identity and live with the daily threat of discovery."

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