This is a case response based on press articles describing how the Home Office requires Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people (hereafter “LGB”) seeking asylum in the United Kingdom to “prove their sexuality”. The articles describe how some claimants are going to extreme measures to demonstrate their sexuality by revealing private and personal photos and other materials as evidence. This case response will provide a social work perspective of the legal issues surrounding this matter and will draw upon key legislation impacting social work practice.
The General Legal Framework
Asylum in the UK is governed by a complicated web of international treaties, statutes, home office rules and case law. In relation to key legislation, these are the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (“IAA 1999”), and supplemented by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (“NIAA 2002”) and the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 (“AIA 2004”) In order to be granted asylum, the asylum-seeker must prove firstly, that they are in the UK; secondly, that they are a ‘refugee’ as defined by the Geneva Convention 1951 (“1951 Convention”); and thirdly that to refuse the application would result in the applicant returning to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, political opinion or being part of a social group.
A person, who defines themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual as in the case response at hand, would fall under a social group recognised by the 1951 Convention . As further clarity on the definition of what is a refugee, Article 1A(2) defines this as a person who: “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular s...
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Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Section20 :Supply of information to Secretary of State.{online}.http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/33/section/20. {Accessed 30.10.2013}
Willman, S. and Knaffler, S. (2004). Support for Asylum Seekers: a guide to legal and welfare rights. 2nd ed. London: Legal Acton Group.
Long, L., Roche, J., and Stringer, D. (2010). The Law and Social Work: Contemporary Issues for Practice. Second Edition. Open University Press.
National Asylum Support Service. Asylum support. {online} http://www.asylumsupport.info {Accessed 04.12.13}.
Miles, N. (2010). Immigration & Asylum – Stonewall. No going back: lesbian and gay people and the asylum system. {online} http://www.stonewall.org.uk/what_we_do/research_and_policy/2874.asp. [Accessed 3.12.2013}.
Phelan, M. and Gillespie, J. (2007) Immigration Law Handbook, Fifth Edition, New York: Oxford.
One of the more disconcerting aspects of Bill C-31 is the newly adopted Designated Country of Origin (DCO) legislation which has permanently labeled particular nations as “safe”. Consequently, individuals claiming refugee status who originate from these countries no longer have the same rights and privileges afforded to their refugee counterparts from other nations (“Overview of C-31,” 2013). In turn, this has led to a dichotomy between those who view this change as necessary in order to diminish the influx of embellished and falsified refugee claims and those who view this policy as discriminatory and prejudiced towards people originating from certain nations.
The media considers the1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City the spark of the modern gay rights movement. This occurred after the police raided the Stonewall bar, a popular gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Allyn argues that the new energy and militancy generated by the riot played a crucial role in creating the gay liberation movement. Arguably, the Stonewall Riots have come to resemble the pivotal moment in gay rights history largely because it provided ways for the gay community to resist the social norms. In fact, the riots increased public awareness of gay rights activism (Allyn 157). Gay life after the Stonewall riots, however, was just as varied and complex as it was before. In the following era, ho...
Seidman, Steven. Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print
Refugee is someone who fled his/her country because of conflict or for fear of been prosecuted for reason of race, nationality, religion, sexuality, and political opinion (UNHCR, 1 February, 2002). An asylum seeker is someone who fled his/her country of origin and applies for recognition as a refugee in another country, and
In such a heated topic, it is important to make the distinction between an asylum seeker and refugee. Definitions are disputed, but the UN uses the following definitions. A refugee is a person who has left their country due to legitimate fears of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political views, or social class. An asylum seeker is someone who claims refugee status but has yet to officially gained said status. Often times, one might seek asylum in times of war or when one feels threatened by their government. It is important to note that while a definition seems straightforward, arge political controversies may arise depending on the...
Bhabha, J., & Young, W. (1998) Through A Child's Eyes: Protecting the Most Vulnerable Asylum Seekers. Interpreter Releases 75 (21), pp. 757-791.
Tatchell, Peter (1992). Europe in the Pink: Lesbian and Gay Equality in the New Europe. London: GMP.
In this essay, I will be talking about social work problems faced in the UK and how they are addressed. I will be focusing on asylum seekers particularly Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). These are children who are under 18yrs of age and applying for asylum in their own rights. I aim to highlight key areas in understanding the needs of these children while recognising that these are by no means homogenous, and therefore explain how these needs are addressed by social policies, legislature and social workers. Many people in the UK coupled with media stories, tend to portray asylum seekers as bogus individuals who are here purely for economic gains (Teater 2014).
Among the gay community, Stonewall has become associated with freedom, fighting, and equality. It was a turning point in gay history and one that literature often uses with a separation of before and after. Using Martin Luther King’s nonviolent method of forcing integration, the Mattachine Society set out to unite the gay scene and empower them. It served as an inspiration and the movement has only grown from their small start. Homosexuality has gone from being a prohibited subject that could seldom be mentioned in public to a common topic of debate among politicians, voters, and the media. Though vast improvements have been made, the gay communities fight has not yet been won, and with more organizations forming and challenging norms hopefully the journey will not be long.
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee is a term applied to anyone who is outside his/her own country and cannot return due to the fear of being persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership of a group or political opinion. Many “refugees” that the media and the general public refer to today are known as internally displaced persons, which are people forced to flee their homes to avoid things such as armed conflict, generalized violations of human rights or natural and non-natural disasters. These two groups are distinctly different but fall ...
However, across the globe, there remain many instances where an individuals' sexual orientation or gender identity can lead them to face execution, imprisonment, torture, violence or discrimination. The range of abuse is limitless and it breaches the fundamental views of international human rights law.
Those who do not fear persecution are not considered in this definition, for instance, people escaping from natural disasters, because they do not have a fear of persecution. In addition, even though the individuals do face persecution, they are not considered as refugees if they are not ‘on the basis of’ of one of the protected grounds. Even those who face persecution on the basis of a protected ground, they cannot be declared as refugees because they are not outside their country of citizenship. The most controversial notion is that those who have been driven from their homes but who have not crossed international borders, so-called ‘Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs), are not in the definition of refugee, even though they have all the characteristics of a refugee except that they have not crossed an international border. The UNHCR has played their part in helping such persons in the last thirty or so years, but has still not considered them as refugees which makes them hard to have full benefits of what refugees should get. Hence, Lister aims to portray that these restrictions have a rational
When lines of identity inevitably blend, relative jurisprudence must be exercised. Lines make excluding circles and methods of excluding people from asylum; our international community divides into unwelcome and welcome nations. As discourse, cultural identity means translating beliefs and feelings from one culture to another. In the process of translation, a screen of cultural values filters understanding of the values and experience of the “other.” The simple word “refugee” evokes images and stories particular to a collectively defined identity, invoking “an image of the radicalized other” (Daniel 272).
Chenoweth, L & McAuliffe, D 2012, The road to social work and human service practice, 3rd edn, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne.
The LGBT community faces many disadvantages and struggles throughout their life. “People around the world face violence and inequality and sometimes torture, even execution because of who they love, how they look or who they are. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of ourselves and should never be lead to discrimination or abuse (Human Rights Watch).” The LGBT community often faces discrimination in health, jobs, housing, domestic violence, abuses against children, and denial of family rights.