Lesbian dies after being deported by United Kingdom back to Uganda

By Melanie Nathan, March 12, 2013.

Screen Shot 2013-03-13 at 10.25.36 AMActivists in the United Kingdom are blaming the United Kingdom Border Agency for deporting an asylum seeker who has now according to Pink News, died in Uganda, “after she claimed she was at risk of homophobic persecution,” if she returned.

When it comes to LGBT Asylum the UK is all talk and no real action.  While the United Kingdom’s government  purports to support LGBT asylees, in truth they fail them, certainly when it comes to the Home Office and the consideration that ought to be given to asyless from all over the world, especially Africa and more especially, Uganda.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) deported Jackie Nanyonjo to the African country on 12 January, despite promises that they would improve asylum chances for LGBT people. According to reports, she fought strongly against the deportation order and continued to resist the decision, “becoming ill in the process, during her transit to Uganda’s Entebbe Airport.” (Pink News):

Jackie Nanyonjo died in Uganda on Friday 8 March. It said in a statement: “When Jackie arrived at Entebbe Airport the ‘escort’ party handed her over to the Ugandan authorities, who held her for many more hours without any medical attention.

“When family members finally met her, long after the flight had landed, Jackie was in terrible pain and vomiting blood; they rushed her to a clinic, but in a country with widespread poverty and limited medical facilities they were unable to get the medical attention Jackie needed.

“Since Jackie was in hiding as a known lesbian, protected by relatives, every trip to a doctor or hospital involved a risk to her life and to the safety of her family. They were condemned to watch the agonising decline of Jackie’s health and strength over the next two months.”

Human rights campaigners have arranged for a protest to take place outside the Home Office in Westminster, central London, from 12.30pm on Thursday 14 March.

This is an outrage; speaking to ugandan activists today, I was informed that Jackie had not made contact with them in Uganda as she may have been too afraid, having already been exposed through the deportation process. In tandem with the reports, activists agree that Jackie was forced into hiding because she had been exposed as a lesbian and hence feared exposure and probably could not obtain the medical attention she needed.

The deportations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) asylum seekers have not ceased are continuing, despite government pledges to ensure their refuge in the United Kingdom.

This case ought to cause outrage as it exemplifies the dangers in such deportations, which seem to occur all too often.

Traumatized refugees who have fled homophobic persecution and violence should not be subjected to further intimidation at the hands of the government where they seek safety and this, all too often, is what occurs by virtue of the treatment the asylum seekers are subjected to by the UK authorities.  The deportation process Jackie endured is evidence of this inhumanity. This death could have been prevented. Jackie should be alive and well and living in the United Kingdom.  An investigation should be launched.

Read more..

http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2012/10/31/uk-breaks-pledge-to-not-deport-gay-and-lesbian-asylum-seekers/

http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/?s=asylum+deported+uk&submit=Search

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

11 Comments on “Lesbian dies after being deported by United Kingdom back to Uganda”

  1. Ezzie Steenkamp March 13, 2013 at 11:07 AM #

    Yip, and this does not make South Africa any different. We have many cases like this here where individuals and GLBT churches pay out of their own pockets to help these people. Some cases even pay a bribe to get the papers processed. Every sponsor and every bribe save a life!

  2. Cheyenne and Mari March 14, 2013 at 1:39 AM #

    This is so sad! I’m scared. I fear for my life and my wife’s life!
    A gay person its never safe in Africa!
    Situations like this makes me think that Africa ill never change.

  3. Moses Walusimbi Da Nice March 14, 2013 at 8:45 AM #

    R.I,P Jackie, to the UNHCR, many people are in the situation of the Late. beloved sister Jackie, and many lives will be lost if you dont come out with direct oders to both where a pesorson is coming from and where he or she is at the momment.why would they deport and then hand a person who run from death to such persecutors,it make me so sick
    may UNITED KINGDOM just wanted to make a test now the test is done please help people to live no one calls for death so dont call death for poor citzens of the WORLD.

  4. Melanie Nathan March 14, 2013 at 7:34 PM #

    That is not quite accurate and please contact me privately re your information. She was never picked up by Ugandan Authorities – according to my information. Her family picked her up at the airport and she got off the plane very ill. Please contact me to verify your assertions or these rumors could hurt impending lawsuits and activism.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Murder of Ugandan lesbian deportee at the hands of UK authorities, Reliance Security and Qatar Airlines | O-blog-dee-o-blog-da - March 14, 2013

    […] Yesterday we reported the story of the death of Jackie Nanyonjo.  Now U.K. activists are calling it murder – read  The Movement for Justice report below.  The question is who is responsible. Evidence is emerging that Jackie was not well while incarcerated by U.K. authorities for two months, during which time she fought against her deportation back to anti-lesbian and anti-gay Uganda, where she believed her life was in  danger. Her family was given limited access and sources have informed me that she did not receive the medical treatment or care she needed while in detention.  This triggered a series of events where perhaps one can allege that Qatar Air and Reliance Security became accessories to her murder. Surely there ought to be accountability and justice. […]

  2. Haunts: Jackie Nanyonjo died last Friday – women in and beyond the global - March 14, 2013

    […] Jackie Nanyonjo fought for the rights, power and dignity of women, LGBTI individuals and communities, lesbians, asylum seekers. She fought for those rights on the streets; in the cells and corridors of Yarl’s Wood; and in the airplane that took her, abducted her more accurately, to Kampala two months ago. When she arrived in Kampala, she was turned over to the Ugandan authorities. They held her for some time, and then she went into hiding. She didn’t contact members of the organized LGBT rights communities, most likely because of the current pogroms against lesbians and gays and their organizations. And so, on Friday, March 8, 2013, International Women’s Day, Jackie Nanyonjo died, in hiding, in Kampala. […]

  3. Life or Death to Save Lesbian Aidah from UK Deportation to Uganda Please Sign Now | O-blog-dee-o-blog-da - May 21, 2014

    […] about this. If you are outraged by the fact that Aidah may be on the same trajectory as lesbian Jackie Nanyonjo, who died last year after being deported to Uganda- then you cannot be […]

  4. Another Lesbian Denied Asylum Under Threat of Immediate Removal back to Uganda | O-blog-dee-o-blog-da - June 4, 2014

    […] Lesbian dies after being deported by United Kingdom back to Uganda […]

  5. UK to deport lesbian to Uganda for ‘being single for five years’ | Gay-News - June 18, 2014

    […] Last year, a gay Ugandan woman died after being deported from the UK. […]

  6. 2014’s Most Popular Posts on O-Blog-Dee-O-Blog-Da | O-blog-dee-o-blog-da - December 29, 2014

    […] Lesbian dies after being deported by United Kingdom back to Uganda […]

  7. Death by deportation | The k2p blog - March 28, 2015

    […] LESBIAN DIES AFTER BEING DEPORTED BY UNITED KINGDOM BACK TO UGANDA […]

Leave a Reply to Melanie Nathan Cancel reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 438 other followers

Build a website with WordPress.com
%d bloggers like this: