It’s Not Just Mehdi

The list of gay asylum seekers being mistreated by the British government is increasing, you’ll be unsurprised to hear. And because it’s important they don’t get lost in the media scrum currently around Mehdi Kazemi, I’ll be mentioning them a lot too.

Jojo Jako Yakob is also 19, gay and from Syria, where he was arrested, jailed and beaten into a coma for being gay. He was granted extended leave by the Home Office, but was found to have a fake Belgian passport and was jailed in Scotland. Following some administrative confusion he got served with a deportation order. As is the case with Iran he says:

“The Syrian government claim that they do not imprison people any longer for being gay and that in any event the maximum sentence is three years. This is not true. The Syrian authorities will always find other charges to bring against a person.”

It’s unsurprising that he should have been in the possession of fake documentation. I can well imagine most asylum seekers having to bypass many or most legal avenues in order to escape their predicaments. This however should not be the reason for his deportation, which is unclear in the article. Remember Peter Tatchell’s description of the way in which the asylum system is now geared up for all applicants to fail – the article does, as in the case of Mehdi Kazemi, suggest an absence of resources with which to make the strongest case in his support.

Shahin Portofeh’s case is one of many salutory reminders of what happens to gay people in Iran. In 2004 he was actually sent back, despite having sewed together his eyes and lips to gain media attention for his predicament. Part two of the story is here, and part three details how the Home Office gave him leave to stay for five years, alongside the Border and Immigration Agency’s excuse for sending him back, despite his having been wanted by the authorities for being gay.

Sign this 10 Downing Street petition right now. This has to stop. If the Netherlands can do it, so can the UK.