The UK has rejected thousands of gay asylum seekers

Data quietly published by the UK government today shows that thousands of gay, lesbian and bisexual asylum seekers have been refused asylum from countries where they could face prison, violence, or death.

After facing repeated calls to release data on its treatment of gay asylum seekers, the Home Office finally released a report on the issue today for the first time.

The astonishing data, which the Home Office describes as “experimental”, shows that thousands of gay and lesbian asylum seekers have been turned away over the past two years.

A total of 3,535 asylum applications were made by people fleeing persecution at least partly based on their sexual orientation, amounting to 6 percent of asylum claims.

However, more than two-thirds of these were rejected.

Of cases with a clear resolution, 2,379 claims were rejected, and just 838 approved.

The data also shows that asylum claims were rejected from gay people who fled persecution under some of the most violent homophobic regimes on the planet.

84 people from Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by death, were denied asylum – nearly half of all of those who applied.

The Home Office accepted just 63 gay asylum seekers from Nigeria, where gay people can face extreme violence or decades in jail. 268 gay Nigerians were turned away.

108 applications from gay asylum seekers fleeing Uganda, where gay sex is punishable by seven years in prison, were also rejected.

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