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Seriously ill lesbian asylum seeker deported by UK to Uganda

Ugandan lesbian Prossie N fled sexual abuse and persecution but has now been sent back by British authorities

13 DECEMBER 2013 | BY TRIS REID-SMITH

Photo by André Wadman.

A lesbian asylum seeker who fled a lifetime of rape and persecution has been deported from the UK to Uganda.

GayAsylumUK warns Prossie N ‘faces certain persecution and the likelihood of imprisonment and torture’ now she is back in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.

Supporters had appealed to the British Home Office to stop her deportation and to Kenya Airways to refuse to fly her back, even protesting at the airport, but met with no success.

Prossie is 20 years old. Her parents died when she was young and she was a victim of sexual abuse and rape by her uncle from the age of eight, reports GayAsylumUK.

She was taken out of school at 13 and at 15 her sexuality was discovered, leading her to spend much of her life on the streets.

She had a secret relationship with a married woman who got her a passport and an agent to take her to Britain in September 2010.

After arriving in the UK she had several lesbian relationships.

GayAsylumUK criticized the British government for deporting her despite high-profile persecution of LGBTI people in Uganda and the fact she is seriously ill.

They said: ‘The European Court of Justice last month ruled homosexual refugees from Africa who feared imprisonment in their home country are entitled to asylum in the European Union and the UK is obligated to implement this.’

Around 15 campaigners, including three Ugandans, had protested against the deportation at London’s Heathrow Airport last night (12 December).

They talked to passengers boarding the same flight about her case.

Tony Gard from Movement for Justice, was among the activists. He said: ‘Three young women were marched out, put in a police van and driven to the outer fringes of greater London and dumped at a bus stop. Others were ordered out.

He said a man known only as Daniel was arrested and is unclear what happened to him.

Gard said: ‘He was one of those who just turned up and no-one else knows him more than vaguely, or knows his surname, and no-one saw the arrest or has been able to speak to him.’

Meanwhile supporters are now working with people in Uganda to find Prossie N again, support her and hope to get her sent back to the UK.