UK: Bail hearing for Jamaican bisexual asylum seeker

A bisexual asylum seeker who is fighting deportation to Jamaica will have a bail hearing on Thursday, campaigners say.

Orashia Edwards, who has lived in Leeds for more than 14 years, claims to be at risk of persecution in Jamaica because of his sexual orientation.

He was refused permission to stay in the UK by Home Secretary Theresa May in December last year.

Mr Edwards is currently awaiting the outcome of a legal review.

The Home Office tried to deport him in January, but his flight was cancelled after protests.

Leeds No Borders, who campaign on behalf of LGBT asylum seekers, said Mr Edwards is scheduled for a bail hearing in Bradford on Thursday at 10am.

Mr Edwards has been detained in Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre for the past month.

He has a young daughter living in the UK along with the rest of his family.

Campaigners have frequently documented alleged cases of officials deporting LGBT asylum seekers back to countries where they face homophobic persecution.

The claims have always been denied by the Home Office.

Violent homophobia and transphobia remains a key problem in Jamaican society.

Transgender teenager Dwayne Jones was murdered in the Jamaican suburban parish of St James last July.

• Nov 29 2023

56 celebrities you didn’t know are gay, bisexual or lesbian