Over 1,300 immigrants who claimed asylum in the UK last year cited their sexuality as one of the reasons to have fled their home country, Home Office figures show.
Of those, 739 were granted asylum in Britain, while 285 had their claims refused.
The statistics for 2022 show an 89 percent increase in those applying to the British government for protection on sexuality grounds, compared to the previous year.
However, the claims account for just 2 percent of overall asylum applications.
On Wednesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman claimed some illegal immigrants were pretending to be gay to “game the system” and get “special treatment.”
In a television interview, Ms. Braverman insisted there are “many instances” where people purport to be homosexual to receive preferential treatment in asylum applications and that the situation is not “fair” or “right.”
The cabinet minister made the comments a day after delivering a hardline speech on migration in the United States.
She argued that discrimination for being gay or a woman should not be enough to qualify for international refugee protection, sparking a backlash from human rights activists, LGBT advocates, and prominent public figures such as singer Sir Elton John.
Sir Elton warned Ms. Braverman risked “further legitimising hate and violence” against LGBT people and calling for “more compassion.”
13,000 Claims
Asked whether she has any evidence that gay people are “gaming the system,” she said: “Well, what we see operationally is that people do game the system.“They come to the UK, they purport to be homosexual in the effort to game our system, in the effort to get special treatment. That’s not fair and it’s not right.”
Ms. Braverman went on: “I’m afraid we do see many instances where people purport to be gay when they’re not actually gay, but in order to get special treatment. It’s not the way our asylum system should work.”
Asked if she is prepared to leave the U.N. Refugee Convention, the home secretary reiterated that the prime minister has said, “we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats.”
An analysis by The Epoch Times found almost 13,000 claims have been made since the reporting began.
The highest yearly figure recorded was in 2016 when 2,212 claims surrounding an asylum applicant’s sexuality were lodged with the Home Office.
Pakistani nationals presented the highest number of those citing sexuality fears they said prevented them from returning to their home country.
Under strict Shaira laws in Pakistan, homosexuality is considered illegal and can draw punishments of whipping, imprisonment, or even death.
The second highest number of those lodging asylum claims based in full, or in part, on sexuality came from Bangladesh nationals, where those found guilty of same sex activity face life in prison.
Those entering the UK illegally from Nigeria were recorded as the third highest claimants, at 119 applications. There, homosexual activity is also criminalised along with the gender expression of trans people.
Shameful
Challenging the home secretary’s claims on Wednesday, gay Labour MP and former minister Sir Chris Bryant wrote on Twitter: “How many? Where’s your evidence?” and accused the Tories of creating the asylum problem.On Tuesday, Labour former cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw said on X, formerly known as Twitter that “being gay is enough to result in persecution or death in many countries.”
Meanwhile, Sonya Sceats, chief executive at Freedom from Torture, said: “LGBTQI+ people are tortured in many countries for who they are and ... They deserve precisely the same protection too.
“For a liberal democracy like Britain to try to weaken protection for this community is shameful.”
