Ugandan Lesbians to Be Deported from Denmark

Three Ugandan lesbians are set to be deported from Denmark after Danish authorities rejected their asylum requests citing serious contradictions in their stories, according to RT News.

However, the LGBT community and gay rights activists have criticized their deportation saying they automatically qualified for asylum since they were escaping persecution based on their sexuality.
“Homosexuals risk persecution from other civilians, their families and clan members as well as blackmail and assault. Homosexuals cannot expect police protection if they are attacked, threatened or killed,” said the spokesperson of LGBT Asylum, Hanne Gyberg.

Gyberg told Ritzau News Agency that it is the first time that LGBT Asylum, an international organization fighting for asylum for homosexuals, has faced a deportation of this nature.

“Their sexuality was not considered in the rejections and we believe the Danish authorities should look at the cases again,” Gyberg added.

A lawyer representing one of the Ugandan lesbians has requested the Danish Refugee Appeals Board to appeal the decision on her client’s behalf saying she is an active and a known member of the LGBT community, which makes it dangerous for her to go back to Uganda.

On its part, Denmark’s ruling party, Venstre, has condemned, in general, the deportation of people escaping persecution based on their sexuality.

When people are considered to be persecuted in their home countries because of religion, sexuality or something else, we have a special obligation to protect them, Venstre’s spokesman Jacob Jensen said.

The three Ugandan lesbians moved to Denmark seeking refuge following an upsurge in homophobic attacks in Uganda after the country passed an anti-gay law in 2014.

Although it was later ruled as invalid by the constitutional court of Uganda, the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014 criminalized any relationships between persons of the same sex.

The act condemned homosexuality saying it was a threat to “legal, religious and traditional family values of the people of Uganda.” It also recommended life imprisonment for gay people.

The aftermath of this law was an unprecedented rise in attacks on members of the LGBT community in Uganda, forcing many of them to flee the country.
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