A same-sex couple from Bangladesh who had their protection visa application refused by the Australian immigration department, have launched a legal challenge through the High Court to appeal the decision, describing it as a “miscarriage of justice”.
The men’s application was made based on a claim that they were at risk of torture and death threats in Bangladesh due to their homosexuality. They claim the reason for refusal was based partly on an anonymous faxed letter claiming they were not a legitimate couple. The men say this is likely to have been written by their former Australian immigration migration agent with whom they were in dispute with over fees.
Escalation to the High Court follows an appeal at a tribunal in which the Immigration Minister’s original decision to refuse protection was upheld, based partly on the letter, which claimed one of the men had a girlfriend and that his claim to be gay was “totally bogus”.
Full Story from VisaBureau.com
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In Geneva this week, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a wide ranging resolution supporting LGBT rights. The United States helped to lead an 85 countries into supporting the resolution, which including a statement on the decriminalization of LGBT conduct in countries where engaging same sex relations are illegal.
