Life or Death to Save Lesbian Aidah from UK Deportation to Uganda Please Sign Now

#SAVEAidah Her fast track deportation is set for mere days ahead – May 24 |  we received a desperate request for help from her team here in the UK.  I am meeting with them in London today. They want to hear from you NOW and there is no time to waste!

Screen Shot 2014-05-23 at 12.09.02 PM
Abbey Kiwanuka, Melanie Nathan and Edwin Sesange -Meeting in London this week, the day before Aidah’s release discuss urgent petitions filed to halt deportation.

UPDATED MAY 23:

LAST MINUTE Stopping of deportation: Success … .Aidah’s deportation was halted. Aidah has been released from detention where she spent almost 6 months while the UK refuted her claim that she is a lesbian.

Picture Right – THANK YOU to all who heeded the call. To the new attorneys who jumped on board and the amazing Ugandan activists from Out & Proud Diamond Group … meeting in London this week. ….who jumped in to find the help needed… Edwin Sesange .and Abbey Kiwanuka  … the petition .

Aidah was told to prepare for immediate deportation on Saturday 24 May, as can be seen from the initial article below.

But she has now been granted a reprieve pending a review of a new asylum claim.

On Friday it was announced that Ms Asaba had been freed from detention as a result of the Home Office’s decision.

Edwin Sesange, from the African LGBTI Out and Proud Diamond Group told PinkNews: “Aidah Asaba’s flight has been cancelled and they are going to release her as they are reviewing their decision.

“We are delighted for the support that the public has given towards saving Aidah Asaba from being sent back to Uganda.

“We also thank the UK Government for agreeing to review their initial decision in light of the new evidence.

HERE IS THE PETITION LINK: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/uk-home-office-cancel-aidah-s-removal-directions-immediately-3

By Melanie Nathan, May 21, 2014.

Screen Shot 2014-05-21 at 3.04.31 AMAidah Asaba is a young traumatized lesbian from Uganda who fled unimaginable abuse and persecution and sought refuge on the basis of her sexuality in the United Kingdom and she is now under immediate threat of removal to Uganda and at risk of imprisonment and torture upon arrival.

She has received removal directions for Saturday the 24th of May and we therefore urgently need you to support Aidah by signing and sharing this petition widely!

Aidah’s case has been handed over to a fast track system resulting in her losing her chance to provide further evidence given her denial.

This abhorent system in the United Kingdom has resulted in a prior death when a Ugandan lesbian was deported to Uganda. Lets NOT allow this to happen again.

If sent back to Uganda she is at  for arrest at the airport, and if detained she could be imprisoned for years.

Her name and case have widely appeared in Ugandan newspapers and come to the attention of the police and local authorities. If she is not arrested upon arrival she is a likely target for rape, torture and death by the homophobic mob vengeance, a phenomenon that seems to have gained traction since the enactment of the new Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda.

On February 24, 2014 the Ugandan president Museveni signed the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill which includes life sentences for so-called ‘aggravated homosexuality’. In the days that followed the newspaper Red Pepper published a list with the full names and photographs of 200 alleged homosexuals. The outings continue with no regard for life. Aidah will be targetted through publicity and she does not stand a chance. this is vile and cruel.

The UK Home Office does not believe that Aidah is a lesbian, and now they will not allow Aidah enough time for Aidah to present evidence. Aidah has letters from well known Ugandan human rights defenders to support the fact she is indeed a lesbian and yet there is no time to make her presentation, because she is on a fast track for removal.

Yesterday i received a desperate request for help from her team here in the UK. They want to hear from you NOW!

It is up to the international public to make a huge outcry 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 silent.

Prominent LGBTI advocates of respected Ugandan organizations, such as RKF awardee Dr. Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and Edwin Sesange of the Out & Proud Diamond Group  and lesbian activist  Melanie Nathan, are, contrary to the Home Office, convinced of Aidah’s honesty and have  put their names forward in her support.

It is unacceptable that Aidah has been put in the fast track system, which deprived her from the chance to collect the required evidence in time. She needs her removal directions to be withdrawn immediately so that she can finalize and submit a strong fresh asylum claim, with her support and new solicitors on the case.

Please call on the UK Home Office to cancel Aidah’s removal directions immediately and agree to reconsider her case. Help us save Aidah and sign and share this petition widely!

UPDATED MAY 23:

 LAST MINUTE Stopping of deportation: Success ….Aidah’s deportation was stopped. Aidah has been released from detention. THANK YOU to all who heeded the call. To the new attorneys who jumped on board and the amazing Ugandan activists from Out & Proud Diamond Group … meeting in London this week. ….who jumped in to find the help needed… Edwin Sesange .and Abbey Kiwanuka  … the petition .

HERE IS THE PETITION LINK:

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/uk-home-office-cancel-aidah-s-removal-directions-immediately-3

READ ABOUT Jackie Nanyonjo,

 

Protestors call for UK Home Secretary to resign after deported Ugandan lesbian dies

Calling on Theresa May to resign A protest outside the home office, called on Theresa May to resign after Jackie Nanyonjo  died in Uganda after being held in a United Kingdon detention center, and then handed to a security agency and then deported ( UK term should be ‘removed’) to Uganda by UK border agency. […]

16 Comments Continue Reading →

Murder of Ugandan lesbian deportee at the hands of UK authorities, Reliance Security and Qatar Airlines

U.K. Activists demand justice By Melanie Nathan, 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 […]

4 Comments Continue Reading →

Lesbian dies after being deported by United Kingdom back to Uganda

By Melanie Nathan, March 12, 2013. Activists 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 […


3 thoughts on “Life or Death to Save Lesbian Aidah from UK Deportation to Uganda Please Sign Now

  1. Reblogged this on JerBear's Queer World News, Views & More From The City Different – Santa Fe, NM and commented:
    Please, sign this petition!

  2. What the UK Government did in deporting Jackie Nanyonjo was reprehensible and should be considered murder after they had been warned about what would happen to her should she be deported to her native country of Uganda. The person or persons that handled her case and that were responsible for her well being while in custody should all face the same harsh penaltie of life in prison with no chance for parole

  3. Pingback: Aidah Asaba, “Sana” and the witch trials of Yarl’s Wood

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