myGwork Quotes Neela Ghoshal on the Bill Passed by UK Parliament

In April 2022, myGwork quoted Outright’s Senior Director of Law, Policy and Research, Neela Ghoshal, on the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 passed by UK Parliament. Despite warnings of the danger the bill proposes to LGBTQ+ people, the UK government introduced a Nationality and Border Act that shifts the processing of asylum claims outside of the European Union to Rwanda. Over 250 UK-based human rights organizations have called for the bill to be repealed, which makes it particularly difficult for LGBTQ+ refugees to prove they need longterm protection. When asked about the impact the bill will have on LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, Ghoshal exclaimed that “Refugees fleeing persecution and conflict, including LGBTQ+ refugees, … travelled to the United Kingdom because they believe it is a country that is safe and inclusive.” She states that Afghan LGBTQ+ refugees in particular have informed Outright that their resettlement in the UK has been “life-saving.” Ghoshal calls the bill “abhorrent” for shipping already displaced and vulnerable LGBTQ+ refugees to a country like Rwanda with an “an appalling human rights record and multiple recently documented cases of arbitrary detention of trans and gender non-conforming people.” She calls on the UK government to “uphold its human rights obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.”

To read the full article at myGwork, click here.