An article by our executive director Leila Zadeh has been published today in Attitude Magazine, outlining the impacts of detention on LGBTQI+ people and the importance of taking action this LGBT+ History Month. Find a summary below, or read the full version.
Hundreds of LGBTQI+ people are put in prison-like conditions every year, while they try to navigate our asylum and immigration system. The government claims that detention is mostly used when a person is about to be removed from the country, but in 2023, 60% of people who were detained were eventually released back into the community.
Detention is harmful for everyone, but it has even more devastating effects on LGBTQI+ people. Research and evidence shows that inside, many are subjected to LGBTQI-phobic abuse and harassment from others detained there or even from staff. They are also isolated from community groups and networks and can be exposed to situations that resemble the experiences they fled.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The government could instead support people to live in communities and to access advice on their immigration status. This would be a compassionate approach that would give LGBTQI+ people the chance to live safely and with dignity while claiming asylum in the UK.
So what can we do about it? The government announced it is reviewing its policy on ‘Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention’ by the spring. This is a policy that aims to protect people who are at additional risk of harm from detention and can prevent them from being detained. Although the policy currently recognises the harms that trans and intersex people face in detention, it doesn’t include the rest of the LGBTQI+ community, and therefore doesn’t recognise them as being at high risk of harm if detained. Added to that, the existing safeguards were weakened after recent changes to official government guidance.
As we come together this LGBT History Month against the backdrop of a global pushback against LGBTQI+ rights, particularly trans rights, it is crucial to keep fighting for the rights of those who have been sidelined and kept out of the public eye.
Let’s raise our voices and urge this government to make history by ending the cruelty of past government policies and protect LGBTQI+ lives.