The Guardian reports that ministers have admitted they are failing to collect data on the number of people who claim or are refused asylum on the basis of their sexuality.
According to The Guardian, immigration minister Damian Green responded to a parliamentary question on the number of lesbian and gay asylum claims since a landmark Supreme Court ruling in July 2010 by saying: "The information requested in the questions is not recorded centrally by the UK Border Agency and can only be obtained through examination of individual case records at a disproportionate cost."
The Home Office had said that relevant cases should be "flagged and recorded" after the ruling.
Erin Power of the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group told The Guardian: "This makes it impossible to say anything at all about LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] claims because we don't know whether they are granting asylum. An awful lot of work and money has gone into improving the approach to LGBT claims. What worries us is people who were refused prior to the supreme court decision. In these cases, we know the countries they are being sent back to are dangerous. If they are picked up as failed asylum seekers, no one is checking whether they were told to be discreet. We've no idea how many people there are."
Read the full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/01/gay-asylum-claims-not-being-counted
(End)