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A gay asylum seeker from Syria has been offered a cash payment by the UK government to return to his home country, a place where homosexuality is illegal and he faces execution for his sexuality.

The Border Agency placed the value of his life at just £46.

Jojo Jako Yakob is a 19 year-old from Syria. Several years ago he was caught distributing anti-government leaflets in his hometown. He was arrested then jailed, shot and beaten by local police.

Upon discovering that Yakob was a homosexual, guards beat him into a coma. When he awoke he managed to escape to Scotland and file for asylum, but his appeal was rejected and once again the government has ordered a gay man to return to a country where he faces execution for his sexuality.

The Border Agency has been sending Yakob letters asking his permission to repatriate him to Syria immediately without appeal, and offering him £46 "to assist you in reintegrating into your home country. This could be used for example to set up a business, further your education or assist with housing".

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This is horrible. It angers me. How can they send a guy off to his death? Is that what a life worth for in Britain. They claim it's enough to manage. That's rubbish.

GUH!

This isn't right!

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Well, I can't really form an opinion on this, seeing as they obviously haven't mentioned all the details. And, as it's coming from a homosexual-orientated website, it's bound to be biased, isn't it?

Half of me feels that this is wrong, sure. But then, the other half of me feels that if you're going to come into a country seeking asylum, and then you pass around anti-government leaflets (bearing in mind that this is the government you're seeking help from), not only are you being hypocritical, but you're just asking for trouble.

It was his hometown he was found distrubuting leaflets. He ran because he almost ended up in coma. But guess ya could look it up. But really it angers me...

Smurf, he wasn't distributing anti-government leaflets in Scotland, but in Syria, which is part of the reason why he had to flee.

Sureal wrote:Smurf, he wasn't distributing anti-government leaflets in Scotland, but in Syria, which is part of the reason why he had to flee.

Ah, I see. That makes more sense - I did wonder how British guards would have got away with beating him into a coma based on his sexuality. I must be in a blonde mood

Well, yeah, I can understand how this is wrong. Out of curiosity, if he can't get asylum here, could he try somewhere else, without having to go back to Syria at all?

Oooh, ooh, we talked about this in Sociology!

There are rules as to when one can seek asylum, and they go pretty much like this: If you're being persecuted for your race/ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs and you can't get help from your home government, then you can be considered a refugee somewhere else. That's not an exact definition but it's something like that. Note that it doesn't include gender, which is a big one. The homosexuality thing is also a problem.

Yes, it does sound harsh that the government is trying to make him go back, and I think it is unfortunate. But the problem is that it sets a precedent; if you let the one guy in, no matter how legitimate his reason, tons of other people can come pouring into your country claiming to be persecuted on the basis of sexuality, and they can use Yakob's case as a precedent...you have no way of handling that. And then you have to give them asylum.

I think that you mean sexual orientation. Gender is whether you are male or female.

Actually the 1951 UN convention defines asylum as this:

"Article 1 of the Convention defines a refugee as "A person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution."

I'm sure there have been cases of people who manage to successfully claim asylum because of their sexual orientation, but I think it tends to be harder to prove. I do remember one case I read about a while ago when whoever was head of the tribunal, suggested that this person was just claiming they were gay when they really weren't.

And often gay-orientated news is the only sort to highlight issues in the GLBT community that simply don't make it into mainstream news, despite being horrible cases such as this one.

46 pounds is alot here in america.

The anti-government leaflets gives this case an interesting twist, but in countries that use Islamic Shari'a (religious laws), many homosexuals seek asylum in other countries. I'm not for certain about Syria, but if it is the same as Iran, the man is not only violating his country's law but religious law as well. It's like homosexual persecution in the United States based on the Bible, but instead the government has the option of doing something for it--which is usually some form of whipping or execution, depending on the "crime".

Thanks for providing the link, Heidigirl. Sorry if I didn't distinguish between gender and sexual orientation; I was pointing out that the definition of a refugee doesn't include people who are persecuted because of gender, either, which can kind of suck for lots of women.

And I think sex is actually whether you are male or female, whereas gender is what you identify as. Not 100% sure on that, but there is a difference.