Ugandan woman faces deportation by the Home Office because they don’t believe she is a lesbian
A lesbian Ugandan woman seeking asylum in the UK faces deportation by the Home Office because they do not believe her sexuality.
Lydia Nabukenya fled to the UK from Uganda after her life became endangered when she was outed to the local community.
She is currently living in Manchester, but her asylum application was rejected in January 2016.
Reasons given for the failure were that she “could not” be a lesbian because she did not live with her partner, despite the Home Office sending the two to different places to live and register.
It’s also believed she was given wrong advice when completing the application, as well as issues with her legal team.
Since her application was rejected, she has been working in close conjunction with the Lesbian Immigration Support Group and was instructed to submit a new application on the 23rd of March.
While submitting the claim, Lydia was detained and reportedly sent to Yarl’s Wood detention centre.
It is believed that she has been released from detention today, but those working with Lydia are unsure of her future and have set up a petition calling for her to not be deported.
Lydia left Uganda after she was forced into a marriage by an aunt who found out she was a lesbian. The husband later found Lydia and her girlfriend kissing, and beat her and threatened to report her to the police.
She left the marriage and continued to have a discreet relationship with her partner, but they were discovered in 2014 which led to them fleeing the country because they feared their safety.
Those working with Lydia told PinkNews that they believe if she is deported she may be at risk of serious violence.
