Greece rejects asylum claim from gay Syrian refugee
Greece has rejected an asylum claim from a gay Syrian refugee.
According to the AFP, an appeals board ruled that the man should return to Turkey because claims that he could be persecuted for his sexual orientation if he was returned to Syria were deemed “unreliable”.
The asylum seeker arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos, but after a board of appeal ruled on his case, they said he should return to Istanbul.
According to the man, he had been threatened by two members of ISIS whilst living in Istanbul, where he had been for several years.
The board had previously granted asylum to Syrians, saying Turkey is not a safe country in which they should be placed.
Under a EU-Turkey migration deal which was reached in March, no previous asylum seekers have been returned to Turkey.
A nonprofit in Greece, the Council for Refugees, has said it plans to appeal the decision on behalf of the man.
According to a report by Amnesty International, refugees are “denied effective protection” in Turkey.
“The EU-Turkey deal is reckless and illegal. Amnesty International’s findings expose as a fiction the idea that Turkey is able to respect the rights and meet the needs of over three million asylum-seekers and refugees,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty’s director for Europe and Central Asia.
Meanwhile, a gay asylum seeker in the UK has said he is facing deportation to Malawi – because he doesn’t have enough ‘proof’ of his sexuality.
And a Zimbabwean lesbian asylum seeker also claimed that she was told to hand over naked pictures to ‘prove’ her sexuality to UK authorities.
