UKBA delays gay asylum hearing for Senegal man
An appeal hearing against the UK Border Agency’s decision to deport an asylum seeker, who claims he is at risk of homophobic persecution in his home country, has been delayed.
26-year-old Tacko Mbengue from Senegal has been in Britain since December 2008 and spent the first eighteen months in various detention centres.
According to the campaign group Movement for Justice (MFJ), Mr Mbengue has been fighting for over two years to stay in the UK and they claim he is a victim of torture.
He is a student at Newham College in London and is a member of MFJ.
This year he was elected as an LGBT representative on the NUS’ black students’ committee.
Mr Mbengue was due to attend an appeal hearing on Thursday 15 November – but this has now been delayed until January of next year, to allow for a full medical report to be submitted.
As is the case throughout most of Africa, the situation for LGBT people in Senegal remains perilous.
Same-sex relationships are banned in the country and the maximum custodial sentence is five years imprisonment.
