Gay asylum seeker to be deported despite fear for his life

Under International law in order to claim asylum the seeker has to apply for asylum in the first safe country that they reach.

Despite the merits of the case I do not believe that Scotland was the first safe country he came to - there must have been a number of other countries he could have sought asylum in before he reached Scotland.

Because the claimant is Homosexual refusal of his claim will generate a great deal of publicity. Deporting this individual will send a message to future 'would be' asylum seekers not to bother coming to Britain because the nation is not a soft touch. Go somewhere else. (However I am surprised that an earlier tribunal did not grant his application).

Now that the point has been made - he cannot (Or should not) be sent back to Syria which is an unsafe country for him. So what is to be done? Perhaps he can be deported to another EU jurisdiction e.g. France, Ireland or England where he can put in a fresh application for asylum.

In the final analysis the asylum rules need to be clarified and more codified to eliminate such anomalies.

Sending him back to Syria is just crazy. And telling him to just act straight when he goes back, and he'll be fine is deadly advice. It was the police and the prison guards that outed him. Now the fact that he's gay is on all his files and records. And the article sure didn't help keep it a secret from the Syrian police and authorities. We can only hope that some other country offers him asylum. Or he'll be dead 10 minutes after stepping back onto Syrian soil.

And we call ourselves a country that champions human rights (in order to justify a phoney war). Yet again, I'm ashamed to be British...

This sickens me to be scottish, how someone can tell him to "be discreet" about his sexuality shows how much these people don't know. You want him to live alone all his life?

It's terrible that these people would rather send him where he will be punished for who he is, insisting that he should just hide his true identity, then let him live in their country. What is the reason? How is this justified?

Oh my god Scotland are you serious? How heartless is it tell a gay man to be a little more discreet before you deport him back to Syria? That’s like telling a 1930-ish Jewish guy to “pull off that Yamika and act a little less Jewish,” right before you deport him back to Nazi Germany.

advertise his sexuality? when did he advertise it? it was found out against his will.

you did advertise your sexuality. you're straight!

there is a word for being scared of straight people, heterophobic.

no one is claiming gays or lesbians to be angels but is that a good enough reason to have him killed?

a trouble maker? he handed out pamphlets. he was just practicing free speech. did you read the article? and he won't be put in jail, he'll be killed. killed for speaking out and for being gay. you're ok with that?

Everyone in this world has choices. This man from Syria made very bad choices.
I am straight, but I do not advertise it. I do not wear an ear ring in one of my ears to single that I'm straight. I consider my sexuality a private matter.
I do not understand, why people have to advertise their sexuality. Most gay men do not advertise their sexuality, because it's none of any ones business.
I also think the term "homophobic" is discrimatory, because their is no term for a gay man who is afaird of straight men.
I had a straight friend who was a hairdress. He was treated badly by gay hairdress, because he was straight.
So gays are not these innocent humanbeing devoid of prejudges.
If you have to show your sexuality, then be prepared for problems. This man was a trouble maker in Syria, and would be a trouble maker in Scotland. Deporting him is a way for Scotland to save money, rather then keeping him in jail like Syria wants to do.

craigers, Do you have any facts to back up your hateful claim? Your example of Iran is not even applicable because Iran is not an Arab country. Your statement seems to come from ignorance, bigotry, and hate.

I find it funny people care how a country acts when it has to do with homosexuality. They don't care before. They don't care that a tyrant is running a country and ruining people's lives....until it has to do with homosexuals and OMG this is a human rights issue.

If they are doing anything else wrong people don't care. Leave them alone...that's their country. Iraq. Iran. any middle East country....until it's homosexual related.

I hope Venezuela starts doing something to Homosexuals so that people will notice how bad it's there and how fake the news is when it comes out about how the government treats people. They turn a blind eye until someone of a different sexual orientation is involved.

I think Scotland is making a vital and horrific error in judgment here. I like when governments pretend to follow rules when they don't tend to do that in most situations prior to the one that makes the headlines.

Deport those that cause trouble.
Deport those that are bad for the economy or bad for humans in general. Send them back to their country to ruin that country.

But when the person is of no threat in such a manner why deport them according to rules? Because you want to prove you actually have the ability to follow your own rules when you are being watched? stupid.

We all know extreme Arab regimes penchant for harming gay people (see Iran's executions). Scotland sending this man back is nothing short of a human rights violation. Scotland should be held accountable if they end up sending this man to his probable death.

Why does the media a;ways bad mouth Arab countries. always hear the worst lies being told about every Arab speaking country. This story is just another sad example.

With this kind of (lack of) mentality, the GLBT community should forget Scotland as a travel destination. Why spend money in a place that would send a person back to death.

This is Scotland's version of 'dont ask, dont tell'.

hey, come on over, whats america for right? come degenerate our society a little more, its so bad we won't even notice these days!

Great... now its all publicize, good luck hiding.

pos_nir: could you just clarify whether by "rome" you mean Syria or the UK?

By "do as the Roman's do", you must mean that you either want him to repress his natural sexuality, or that you agree with his lifestyle. Which is it?

Many countries, including the United States, are very biased in their acceptance of refugees. This doesn't pertain only to sexuality but also to a refugee's country of origin. The United States is notorious for accepting refugees from countries that are considered to be enemies of the United States especially if they are communist countries; take, for example, Cuba. On the other hand, refugees from countries that are considered far more oppressive but with "democratic" governments supported by the United States (for example, the Duvalier regime in Haiti) are far more likely to be turned away when seeking refugee status. The bottom line is that accepting or denying a person's petition for refugee status is typically not based on the validity of their claims of an endangered existence in their country of origin.

I agree with rwylie. Isn't it a human right to be able to express yourself and to live an open life without shame and secrecy? Plus, given his record with the Syrian police, I am sure he will be targeted if he has to return and they will make his life a living hell ...

Even if the tribunal is right, and he could be safe in Syria by repressing his sexuality, is it fair that we should essentially condemn this man to a life of secrecy, and probably misery, by deporting him to a country which does not recognise as we do his right to live the way he wants to?

Yeah, this sucks! You would never tell someone seeking asylum for another reason to just go home and behave 'discreetly'! I cannot believe it ... hopefully, the final appeal is successful!

Well I guess globalization works partially. "We'll take your goods but your people need to stay the hell out." Completely lame.

when in rome do as the romans do my dear yakob