UK government’s asylum bill fails to consider safety of LGBTQ+ people, charity warns
The UK government’s new Illegal Migration Bill fails to consider the “safety and wellbeing” of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, Rainbow Migration, a charity which provides practical and emotional support for LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum, has warned.
The new legislation was announced as a way of tackling small boat crossings in the Channel, which Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has acknowledged has a 50% chance of being incompatible with human convention rights.
It will allow illegal arrivals to be detained without bail or judicial review for 28 days until they can be removed. Parliament will also determine an annual cap on the number of refugees the UK will resettle via “safe and legal routes”.
Rainbow Migration highlighted that the bill proposes sending people who have fled life-threatening situations to countries where LGBTQ+ people are not able to safely be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity. READ MORE: Luke Pollard MP urges UK government to protect LGBTQ+ asylum seekers It highlighted that Nigeria is a country deemed safe to send asylum seekers to by the UK government, though its own statistics show that up to 50 people were granted asylum here from the country on the grounds of their sexual orientation.
