UK Government’s Rwanda Bill will particularly impact LGBTQI+ asylum seekers, says new report

The UK Government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda has made an already precarious situation for LGBTQI+ asylum seekers even worse, a new study has revealed.

The study, from Manchester Metropolitan University, outlines how the government’s justification for removing LGBTQI+ people to Rwanda is based on a flawed understanding of how identity and vulnerability operates in the context of LGBTQI+ asylum. 

Researchers also point out the lack of nuanced discussion of how specific characteristics and identities would render many people vulnerable if they are removed from the UK. 

The research, published in a special issue of the Journal of Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Law, analysed how the Rwanda Policy, and more broadly, the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and Illegal Migration Act 2023, affects LGBTQI + asylum seekers in particular. 

Dr Rossella Pulvirenti, Senior Lecturer in Law at Manchester Metropolitan, said: “The legal framework in the UK protects LGBTQI+ people more than the laws in Rwanda. It is very likely that they will be greatly affected.

“We spoke to asylum seekers, NGOs and lawyers for this study and there was a feeling of despair that definitely came across. When asylum seekers come here, they are filled with hope that their situation will improve. The UK has always had the reputation of being the country for the protection of human rights. They couldn’t believe that the situation in the UK has deteriorated so much into this hostile environment.”

The study is the first to consider how LGBTQI+ people will be affected by the Rwanda Policy and examines the policy against existing refugee and equality laws, backed by specific case studies. 

“Human rights are human rights,” said Dr Pulvirenti. “It doesn’t matter whether you belong to a minority or to the global majority. The UK must respect the rights of asylum seekers.”