Free Webinar – Safety, Not Suspicion: Advocating for LGBTQI+ People Seeking Asylum In a Changing Legal Landscape

In the wake of a sea change in asylum law, policy and practice over recent years, LGBTQI+ people have often been at the sharpest end of this cruelty and uncertainty. Across the sector, we are seeing the many ways successive governments have made it harder for LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum to prove their claims and remain safe whilst doing so.

From raising the standard of proof under the Nationality and Borders Act, to worsening conditions in asylum accommodation, and increased detention and removals, queer and trans people seeking sanctuary face mounting barriers and growing danger. We are seeing our LGBTQI+ clients and service users encountering less safety and more suspicion, although they fear return to countries where they would face devastating state or societal violence. All in a context where the majority of countries in the Commonwealth, that still criminalise LGBTQI+ people, do so as a direct result of British colonialism.

In this online event, speakers from Garden Court Chambers and Rainbow Migration unpack how recent legal and policy changes have disproportionately impacted LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum – and how we can collectively challenge this. We will explore strategic legal responses, support work, and policy interventions that centre safety, justice and liberation. From an interdisciplinary lens, we will also discuss how by working together, legal practitioners, frontline workers, charities and organisers, can best provide meaningful advocacy and solidarity to LGBTQI+ people in the asylum system. Topics include a discussion of recent caselaw in the domestic and European courts, how to counter the culture of disbelief through robust expert and supporting evidence, and country-specific considerations for nationalities targeted for certification and removals. We will also discuss the changes needed to the ‘Adults at Risk’ policy, and how to advocate for those struggling to access support and safety in asylum accommodation and immigration detention.

The webinar is open to all legal practitioners, caseworkers, support workers, policy and campaigns experts, and activists or organisers working towards queer and trans liberation and migrant justice.

Speakers
Zehrah Hasan, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Zehrah practises in immigration, asylum and public law, with particular expertise in LGBTQI+ asylum, human rights cases, detention challenges, and representing survivors of torture, gender-based violence, trafficking, and exploitation. She assists Rainbow Migration’s legal team as a Consultant Lawyer, where she advises on individual claims, and has worked on strategic litigation and policy interventions. Zehrah previously worked at several leading non-profit organisations in the sector, including as the Advocacy Director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), and in policy and campaigning roles at Liberty and Southall Black Sisters. She has subsequently worked and advised on several strategic legal challenges, both as counsel and in NGOs, including on immigration detention, asylum accommodation, migrant workers’ rights and Palestinian refugees. She was a previous Coordinator for the trade union Legal Sector Workers United and served as Vice-Chair of the Human Rights Lawyers Association.

Helen Foot, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Helen specialises in immigration, judicial review, human rights and nationality law. Her expertise encompasses civil litigation arising from unlawful detention and SIAC appeals involving national security issues. Helen has fifteen years’ experience in the First-tier and Upper Tribunal and the Administrative Court. She has appeared in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, where she acted as junior counsel for the appellants in KO (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 53 and R(Hysaj and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 82. She specialises in complex protection claims on behalf of trafficking victims, children, LGBTI refugees and those fleeing gender-specific persecution. During her legal training, she volunteered for the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG). Helen is a contributing author of Macdonald’s Immigration Law and Practice (10th Edition), Jackson’s Immigration Law and Practice (5th Edition) and the Legal Action Group book, Support for Asylum Seekers and Other Migrants.

Ayesha Aziz, Legal Service Manager, Rainbow Migration 
Ayesha is a practicing solicitor with over 8 years of Post Qualification Experience in immigration law. Ayesha is also qualified as a Level 2 Senior Caseworker and Supervisor under the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme.

Karen Doyle, Trainee Solicitor, Wilsons LLP 
Karen is a trainee solicitor and Justice First Fellow in partnership with Rainbow Migration. Prior to joining Wilsons, she spent 27 years as an immigrant rights and anti-racist activist before deciding to retrain as a solicitor. She gained substantial experience working with LGBT asylum seekers and immigration detainees, in particular those subject to deportation on charter flights.

Ro Carter, Casework Coordinator, Rainbow Migration
Ro is an LGBTQI+ Casework Coordinators. They have previous experience working in informal camps at borders across Europe, as well as providing advice and advocacy for UASC arriving in the UK.