ASYLUM FROM HOMOPHOBIA: URGENT SUPPORT NEEDED
Urgent support is needed for a lesbian woman seeking asylum from homophobic persecution: Ms Tilli Latifa who has been detained in Yarl's Wood Removal Centre for almost nine months faces removal to Tunisia on Tuesday 20 February. Please support her by writing immediately to Immigration Minister Liam Byrne urging that she be allowed to stay (see below for details).
" Now is the time for prominent lesbian and gay people, including politicians and those from high profile organisations to defend the civil, human and legal rights of those of us seeking asylum --- being an immigrant and fleeing persecution is a "gay issue". Those who don't support asylum seekers are upholding a different standard of "equality" depending on whether someone has the right passport, skin colour, accent . . .".
Background
Ms Latifa (Home Office Reference: T1125808) Port Ref No ASC/1076730
In 1996 Ms Latifa became active in a women's rights organization in Tunisia while at University. She was disowned by her family who threatened to kill her if she did not leave the organization after a local Imam told them that it was contrary to Islamic teachings. She was raped by two men because of her membership of the group and a fatwa against her was issued when she refused a forced marriage proposed by the Imam. Ms Latifa's asylum claim was heard and refused under the "Fast-track" system after she was detained in Yarl's Wood by an Adjudicator who considered it safe for her to return to another part of Tunisia [i] [i]. However she had felt unable to disclose the fact she had been raped to her solicitor, and although she told him she was a lesbian, he did not include this in her claim and she did not feel comfortable challenging him about this omission. As a result, she is now submitting a fresh claim for asylum on the basis of the persecution she would face if returned to Tunisia as a lesbian woman who is a rape survivor, a unmarried Muslim woman whose family have rejected her, and even that she may be killed as a result of the Imam's fatwa.
Please write urging a stop on the removal directions against Ms Latifa for Tuesday 20 February so that her asylum claim can be fully considered and she can stay in the UK with her long-term partner and rebuild her life.
Address your letters to:
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne MP
Email liam.byrne.submissions@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and byrnel@parliament.uk
or fax:020 7219 2417.
Please copy to:
Meg Munn MP, Minister for Equality and Human Rights
Email meg.munn@communities.gsi.gov.uk or fax: 0207 944 5891
Wages Due Lesbians Email: wdl@allwomencount.net or fax: 0207 209 4761
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[ii] [i] WDL works closely with Black Women's Rape Action Project and Women Against Rape. In December 2006 they launched the results of a survey of how rape survivors' appeals are treated by the Tribunal. "Misjudging Rape: Breaching Gender Guidelines and International Law in Asylum Appeals " found that 20% of women had not been able to speak about rape before the Home Office considered their case and 14% still had not reported by the time of their hearing. 43% of the women who had reported rape at their appeal were completely disbelieved.
