New changes to UK asylum system described as “horribly inhumane” for LGBTQIA+ refugees 

Asylum seekers will now only be offered temporary protection 

BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY GETTY IMAGES/CANVA 

LGBTQIA+ campaigners share concerns over significant changes to the UK’s asylum system, announced yesterday (2 March) by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. 

Under these new changes, asylum seekers given refugee status in the UK will only be offered temporary protection. This will mean that asylum seekers’ cases will be reviewed every 30 months, and they could be sent back to their country of origin if it is deemed “safe”. 

Minesh Parekh, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Rainbow Migration, commented on the effects of these changes for LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers: “Determining whether a country is ‘safe’ is extremely complex and blanket designations too often fail to reflect the realities individuals face.” 

“Living with the constant threat of being sent back to danger is horribly inhumane. Constantly reviewing someone’s right to stay, making them live with uncertainty for decades, will undoubtedly affect their ability to develop lasting work, housing or family ties,” Parekh added. 

In 2023, 2% of asylum claims in the UK included sexual orientation as part of the basis for their claim. At the time of writing, there are still 65 countries around the world where homosexuality is illegal. LGBTQIA+ campaigners and organisations have shared their fears about these new changes and how a country will be deemed “safe”. 

Parekh continued: “We support LGBTQI+ people like Sam, a trans man from the Middle East who had to escape his home country because he was threatened with violence if he didn’t reverse his transition. Or Jalal, a gay man from Pakistan whose family, when they found out about his sexuality, told him that ‘if you come back, we will kill you’.” 

“Imagine finally being granted refugee status after fleeing these horrors, only to be told that your status will be reviewed in 2.5 years and you could be sent back to danger.”

In past years, LGBTQIA+ organisations have urged the UK government to remove countries like Georgia from their “safe state” list due to anti-LGBTQIA+ attitudes held in the country. 

Speaking on these new changes, Parekh said: “We urge this government to stop their anti-migrant agenda, which is fuelling hostility and hate towards people seeking safety, and instead tackle real issues the UK is facing, like inequality, unaffordable housing and rising poverty.”

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