Promoting the rights of women seeking asylum in the UK
Refugee women in the UK
Many women come to the UK because they are fleeing real persecution in their home countries. But women often find that if they are fleeing rape and other kinds of gender-related persecution, such as honour crimes, forced marriage and female genital mutilation, the Home Office will not see this as grounds for giving refugee status.
For instance, at the time of writing a young woman called Bella was being held in Yarl's Wood detention centre. Before she was detained she described to Women for Refugee Women what had happened to her in Uganda when government agents came to her house to get information from her father: "One of the men raped me while the other held my father's head to watch with his arms tied and he was beaten each time he closed his eyes. I pleaded for him to give them what they needed but he did not. I leave the matter open for anyone to conclude whether I have been a victim of torture."
The Home Office believed that she was raped but told her that this did not mean she qualified for refugee status. Asylum law in Britain is founded on the 1951 Refugee Convention which states that asylum should be given to people who show a well-founded fear of persecution because of their "race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."
But even when women have been targeted for political reasons, they are often refused asylum. It is also the case that many women are persecuted by private individuals such as family members. Key cases in Britain that have gone to the House of Lords have shown if their state cannot provide any protection for them against persecution such as honour crimes or forced prostitution, women can be considered members of a "particular social group" for the purposes of asylum law. But these appeal decisions are not being consistently followed by the Home Office and many women at risk of gender-related persecution, including rape but also honour crimes, domestic violence, forced marriage of themselves or their daughters, or forced prostitution, are being refused refuge in the UK.
If a woman is turned down for asylum she is made destitute.
Angelique walked the streets of London until she was 7 months pregnant. Many women, young, old, mothers and pregnant women, are currently destitute in our country. Asylum seekers are prohibited from working, and once their case is refused, they are rarely entitled to any state support. As such, many women are existing on handouts and by begging, often from other refugees, and are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. They can even be threatened with having their children taken into care, unless they agree to arrange to leave the UK.
She can be detained.
Harriet Anyangokolo was detained for three months in 2005 and went on hunger strike in protest. Women and their families are often detained even before their legal process has come to an end and many do not have any legal representation to help them to fight their case. Immigration detention is not subject to a time limit. Detention centres are effectively prisons; when women are detained with their children they face particular stress as they try to protect their children from the adverse effects of living in prison.
She can be forcibly deported
Olive is fleeing violence from her husband's family in Rwanda. She is a Tutsi who was married to a Hutu, and after the genocide she testified against her husband's brothers, who had been involved in the genocide. Since then she has been abused by her husband and his family and fled here to save the lives of herself and her children. She was taken to the aeroplane from Yarl's Wood detention centre but resisted so hard she and her children were taken back again. Her young children had to watch her fighting the staff who were wrestling her on to the aeroplane. Deportation often takes place at weekends, bank holidays and late at night, leaving women few chances to contact their lawyer or supporters.