Call to change rules as Home Office says it is 'compassionate'

EQUALITY campaigners last night called for a ban on deporting lesbian and gay people to countries where homosexuality is illegal, after Jojo Yakob's last-ditch bid to stay in Scotland was thrown out.

The Scotsman can reveal that the Court of Session has rejected an appeal against the Home Office's decision to deny Mr Yakob refugee status.

Lord Carloway's four-page ruling has not been made public, although copies have been sent to the Home Office and Mr Yakob's legal team.

The 20-year-old, who is gay, arrived in the UK nearly three years ago after fleeing torture at the hands of Syrian secret police and prison guards.

He said the Syrian authorities inflicted beatings, burning, electric shocks and water torture on him after discovering he was homosexual. He had earlier been arrested and tortured for distributing leaflets on behalf of an anti-government Kurdish party.

But the Home Office refused to grant Mr Yakob refugee status after deciding that homosexuals were safe from persecution in Syria. That claim was last night rejected by MSPs and equality campaigners supporting Mr Yakob.

Nico Juetten, policy manager with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Youth Scotland, said: "We cannot comment on the individual circumstances of a young person who our youth workers have been supporting through what is a very difficult time.

"However, we are very concerned about what might lie ahead for lesbian and gay people who are deported to any of more than 70 countries worldwide where homosexuality is against the law.

"We do not believe that deporting vulnerable people to places where they might face incarceration and torture is a hallmark of a humane asylum process that treats all those who come to the UK with protection with dignity."

Nationalist MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville, who lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling for a moratorium on such deportations, admitted Mr Yakob's case was "very difficult and complex".

But she added: "It's very upsetting to find his last legal opportunity has been taken up – and was unsuccessful.

"There's little doubt that in a lot of countries, Syria included, being gay will lead to persecution. This young man is understandably in fear of his life."

She added: "I'm looking for the Home Office to urgently review the guidelines and criteria they have. We simply can't have people forced back to their country of origin if that puts their life in any danger."

A Home Office spokeswoman last night refused to comment on Mr Yakob's case. But she added: "Claims for asylum are carefully considered by trained case-workers, examining every aspect.

"Where an individual faces a well-founded fear of persecution, asylum will be granted. However, in cases where we find that individuals have no fear of persecution or serious harm upon return to their home country, they are expected to leave the UK.

"Our asylum decisions are humane and compassionate and are also subject to independent scrutiny by the judiciary."