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| Apata and her gay pal |
A stranded and self professed Nigerian lesbian
lady residing in the UK, Aderonke Apata, said she had tried everything to
persuade the Home Office that she was gay.
She had sent letters from former girlfriends –
both in Britain and Nigeria – and supporting statements from friends, The
Daily Independent, UK, reports.
But once her claim that she could be killed
because of her sexuality if sent back to Nigeria was rejected, she felt there
was only one way of providing a judge with irrefutable evidence that she was
gay – by sending a very personal home video.
Apata will hand in a petition to Theresa May, the
Home Secretary, demanding that the deportation of all LGBT asylum-seekers be
halted until a review of their treatment is concluded.
Sitting with her girlfriend, Happiness Agboro, in
a bar on Manchester’s Canal Street, Apata, 47, reveals the traumatic ordeal she
has experienced: “I was asked to bring my supporting documents for my judicial
review for the court to look at. What evidence do we have to compile apart from
letters from people? I knew we had a home video of ourselves, so I thought why
not just put it in? I cannot afford to go back to my county where I will be tortured,
so if I have to prove it with a sexual video, then I have to do it.”
Her experience is echoed by many LGBT
asylum-seekers in Britain who have to go to extreme lengths to persuade
immigration officers of their sexuality. She still feels distraught at having
shared such an intimate record of her personal life.
“I feel so bad it’s got to this stage. It’s such
a desperate and precarious situation to be in because anything could happen to
those pictures, those videos.”
The Home Secretary ordered a review of how border
officials handled gay asylum claims in March after leaked documents revealed
that inappropriate interrogation techniques were being used to make people
“prove” they were homosexual.
Apata will present her petition at a meeting with
the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, attended by
asylum-seekers and activists in Manchester.
When she came to Britain from Nigeria in 2004,
her asylum claim was on religious grounds. She came from a Christian family,
but had married a Muslim man in what she says was a sham arrangement to cover
up her long-term relationship with another woman.
According to Apata, her husband’s family turned
against her as they suspected she was gay. They took her to a Sharia Court,
where she was sentenced to death for adultery. She says her brother and
three-year-old son were killed in related vigilante incidents.
Apata went into hiding after two appeals for
asylum were rejected, living on the streets in Manchester to make sure she
would not be deported.
In 2012, after being caught, Apata tried again to
apply for asylum – saying she feared returning to Nigeria and being persecuted
for her sexuality.
This latest asylum claim was also rejected,
despite the fact that Apata gave testimony that her ex-girlfriend in Nigeria
was killed in a vigilante attack in 2012 and the country’s law now punishes
homosexuality with up to 14 years’ imprisonment.
Apata’s story has rapidly garnered mass support,
attracting more than 230,000 signatures.
A judicial review has now been granted in her
case and she is hopeful she will finally have the right to live freely in
Britain with her girlfriend.
A Home Office spokeswoman said, “We do not remove
anyone at risk of persecution because of their sexuality. All applications are
carefully considered in line with our international obligations.”
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