Urgent Petition to Save Another Ugandan Lesbian About to be deported from United Kingdom

URGENT PETITION – See link below-  Se updated note below

By Melanie Nathan, August 19, 2104.

Screen Shot 2014-08-18 at 11.56.11 AMAn Ugandan lesbian may be deported on Friday, unless we act fast. When Burton Youth for Christ members found out that their trusted interned employee of 10 months was a lesbian, they suddenly turned on her, fearing that she could harm or negatively impact their children.  They would no longer support her quest for asylum and with a mere five pounds in hand dumped her at the airport with an air ticket back home, to persecuting Uganda.  She was essentially left to fend for herself in a system that is not so friendly to LGBT asylees.

The United Kingdom’s home office has an insidious history of fast tracking and subjecting under represented asylees to further persecution through their process.  They also have a history of not understanding the issues and cultural impediments that face prospective asylees, such as fear of speaking out, lack of resources, and the impact of the trauma of persecution on how they conduct themselves. So what often seems not credible to the Home Office, is indeed credible for those who understand the nature of these horrific stories and how they impact asylees, and often down the line through further appeals proven to be true.

The same thing happens over and over again – and all needed is assistance with proper representation and enough time to sort out and fully investigate each case, before rushing to deportation.

Here is the Petition for Joan

STOP DEPORTATION OF LESBIAN ASYLUM SEEKER JOAN TUMWINE TO UGANDA

The UK Government is about to deport lesbian asylum seeker, Joan Ayebare Tumwine , without giving her a fair opportunity, with proper legal representation to present her case: PLEASE help STOP the unjust deportation of Joan by signing this petition.

Please sign and Share this Petition widely as it is a matter of extreme urgency:

Joan Ayebare Tumwine is a Ugandan lesbian facing deportation from United Kingdom back to Uganda where she will face further persecution and where her life could be in danger.
Joan is scheduled to be deported on Friday 22/08/2014 time 8:00pm on Kenya Airways.

Joan came to the UK September 2013 to work for a year with a charity called Burton Youth For Christ. (BYFC) .  She was too afraid to tell her employers or seek their help because she had heard anti-gay remarks.

She worked there for ten months unable to find anyone she could trust to tell her story. She was locked into long working hours and unable to find help.

She wanted help and to seek protection. “I studied each one of them and the way they used to talk about gay people was not good and that made me not trust them with my problems and not only that, being Christians they did not like gay people.”

When she tried to claim asylum BYFC found out she was a lesbian and instead of helping her, tried to force her to leave the UK .

They told her they did could not trust her with their Children for that reason we are taking you back to Uganda 

“They took me to Birmingham Airport and when we got there, Catherine then asked me whether I had decided that I wanted them to call immigration or whether I wanted them to put me straight on the plane to go back to Uganda. I told her to call immigration and she told me to give her a few minutes. When she came back, she told me that since it was a late Friday, there was no immigration officer to attend to me, so they couldn’t contact immigration and that the only option they had left was to put me straight on to the plane.They asked for my passport and I gave it to them, they then paid for the flight ticket.

They then tried to give me my passport and the ticket but I refused them. They said I had no option but to go. They went and checked me in and they came to tell me that they were taking me to Departures. I asked them to speak to any officer at the airport but they refused and told me that there was no one to talk to me. As we walked towards Departures, I saw a uniformed officer, (he was called Andy Lee) and I asked for help.”

Joans asylum was denied on issues that could easily be countered and explained with proper representation and the drafting of reports by professionals. But she has yet to be given this opportunity.

Joan appealed against the refusal however on the day of the Court she was sick and had an appointment to see a doctor however the Judge refused to adjourn the court hearing. Therefore Joan did not get a chance to make her case.

Joan provided the evidence that she was sick in form of medical records from Yarlswood detention center Health center, however this was rejected by the courts because she did the appeal herself.

This case has not  yet been fully investigated and Joan must be given a fair and just opportunity to do so.

Joan is currently being held unnecessarily in Yarlswood Detention center. There is no risk if she is released, as she desperately wants to ensure her asylum case is properly heard and that she receives legal status in the United Kingdom.

Unfortunately part of her story that requires further investigation has been assigned to a Police Officer who is on vacation and there is not enough time to investigate pending her deportation

The current Anti-Homosexuality laws, recently invalidated by the Courts have sparked a backlash such as this quote from Rev. David Livingston Kiganda: “If the gays win the case, we are going to slaughter them.. They are few in number and we know that”

Currently many Ugandan lesbians and LGBT remain in hiding in Uganda in fear of their lives. They are unable to find work and many have been shunned by family, fired by employers and evicted from rentals.

In Uganda Parliamentarians are seeking to reinstate the law, which was invalidated only on a technicality

We have just found help for Joan. We urge people to sign this Petition that her deportation be stopped pending further investigation, reports and appeal.

Please sign this petition, share it with your friends, contact your Member of Parliament or contact her Member of Parliament Rt Hon  Andrew Griffiths  020 7219 7029 email Contact the Home secretary RT HON Theresa  May Tel: 020 7219 5206 Fax: 020 7219 1145 email 

Quote Joan Ayebare Home Office number A1855953

Contact Kenya Airways to stop her deportation quoting ticket number +44 020 8759 7366 email [email protected]

LINK TO PETITION:  https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-theresa-may-u-k-stop-deportation-of-lesbian-asylum-seeker-joan-tumwine-to-uganda#

UPDATED:  AUG 20, 2014.

Good news good news . We are happy to inform you that Joan Tumwine’s ticket has been cancelled. However we still have more work to be done. Thanks so much for your support.  Please keep signing petition in a show of support as Joan’s case continues to move forward. She is by no means out of the woods – and nor is he yet out if YARLSWOOD..s!  Thanks , Melanie.

 


12 thoughts on “Urgent Petition to Save Another Ugandan Lesbian About to be deported from United Kingdom

  1. Dear Melanie, I thought you were Pro-Democracy?
    Since the majority want the gays killed, why don’t you embrace that?

    1. The majority wanted Hitler to Kill Jews and I dont think I would have not supported that, – just because of the use of the word “majority” in association with democracy. And the what is a democracy – m7 in office for 30 years. And if the majority agreed with slavery would you support that? And by the way how can you say Uganda is a democracy if it is run by a 30 year dictator. Why do you think Nelson Mandela refused to run again – because he believed in a real democracy. And a majority at some point believed in slavery too. You are too quick to believe that there is such a thing as a real democracy in some countries, my friend. Get a grip on reality. After you come to terms with what democracy really means then we can talk about human rights and how that impacts some democracies. OH and lest we forget the so called majority was fed lies by pseudo Christians as to what being LGBT really means. Get a grip!!! Or did I already say that?

    2. Someone from Uganda left this comment on another article in this BLOG “The pink elephants you mention are the context in which ordinary Ugandans live. Uganda is not a democracy. It is a military dictatorship/kleptocracy masquerading rather absurdly as a democracy. You are correct. If this issue, rather than sexuality were to become the main focus of the outside world’s attention and opprobrium, then perhaps we would not have to deal with idiotic laws such as the ‘anti gay’ law in the first place. The fact that there is an attempt to take human rights away from any group, should tell you what our government thinks of human rights in general. Today it is gay people, tomorrow, who knows?”

      1. Dear Melanie, history has always proven that Democracy is Military Dicatorship.

        http://www.wrisley.com/cycle.htm

        So I’m not sure what your solution is, you are Pro-Democracy but Anti-What-it-Results.

        Don’t you think you might get more ground for your movement in Fascism?

        1. The only movement I know is sitting at the bottom of the toilet bowel. HA and I think I know who dumped it there!

  2. Reblogged this on We are 1 Voice and commented:
    Please read and share! Very important. You could help save a life.

  3. I have no doubt that serious harm or death still awaits Joan should she be sent back to Uganda. The Church in this country who she worked for in a slavish way knew that, and so being strongly of the opinion that gays should be killed did their utmost to ensure she was returned to this prospect. Which is pretty evil in its self. Very recently uganda say their kill the gays policies are being overturned…this is still on v shaky ground and also peoples opinions attitudes and behaviours towards gays dont change so instantly, there is likely to be backlash. Lawfully or not she faces likely death if returned. The churches there are inciting this murder as I type. Uganda is a very dangerous place to be if you are gay you’re as good as dead ..fact.

  4. Reblogged this on TaraRambles and commented:
    This shit needs to end, yesterday. Sign the petition or I will sit on you. And not in the good way.

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