- Conference
- 2023 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 20 July 2023
- Decision
- Carried
Conference recalls and celebrates the significant work undertaken over the last thirty years by the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Plus (LGBT+) Committee both within UNISON and in collaboration with national and international partners on the issues affecting LGBT+ asylum seekers, refugees, and migrant workers.
Conference notes the “Equality and the UK Asylum process” report of the Parliamentary Women and Equalities Committee published on 27 June 2023 which highlights the continuing issues relating to the processing of claims, treatment of asylum seekers on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity and the processes which underpin claims.
The Committee took wide-ranging evidence from a plethora of organisations including Rainbow Migration and the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum (SOGICA) Project and outlined the significant inequalities which continue to exist in asylum decision making processes in relation to LGBT+ applicants.
The Report highlights that, whilst data collection regarding LGBT+ cases is improving, significant improvements are still needed.
The heavy reliance on a single substantive asylum interview discriminates against LGBT+ claimants with trauma experienced in their country of origin, and subsequently, often reduces their ability to recollect and provide a chronological narrative, leading to refused applications.
The Home Office should publish the findings of its 2019–20 internal review in determination of claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity and the steps it has taken to improve its decision-making.
This Report further recommended that government addresses case guidance, Home Office procedure and outcomes, asylum accommodation regimes and data collection.
Conference believes that we must continue to highlight the inequalities embedded in our Immigration and Asylum procedures which impede LGBT+ claimants from accessing fair and just treatment and welcomes this new report and its recommendations.
Conference therefore calls on the National LGBT+ Committee to:
a)Seek to work with the National Executive Committee (NEC) and Labour Link to continue to highlight the inequalities in both the Immigration and Asylum processes which affect UNISON members, our families, and our communities.
b) Advertise the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) helpline for UNISON members
c) Liaise with the Local Government Service Group Executive to seek the inclusion of the issue of safe accommodation for LGBT+ asylum seekers provided by government agencies/external providers within their Housing campaigning agenda.
d) Continue to encourage regional and branch groups to highlight the issues faced by LGBT+ asylum seekers and refugees through all appropriate media.
e) Request that UNISON’s Migrant Workers Network incorporate issues of LGBT+ Migrant Workers on its agenda.
f) Seek to work with the Community Service Group Executive and other parts of the union as appropriate to lobby for appropriate funding for non-statutory and voluntary organisations which actively support LGBT+ asylum seekers, refugees, and migrant workers.