Navendu Mishra
Main Page: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)Department Debates - View all Navendu Mishra's debates with the Ministry of Justice
LGBTQ+ Afghan Refugees
Navendu Mishra Excerpts(3 years, 3 months ago)
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Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Gary, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Kate Osborne) for having secured this important and timely debate. I am also grateful to our armed forces, diplomatic staff, and NGO workers for all their efforts with the evacuation programme.
We all know what Taliban control of Afghanistan means: the oppression of women and girls, the suppression of minorities—including the Hazara people, Sikhs, and Hindus—and not least, the persecution of LGBTQI+ people. LGBTQI+ people are living in fear for their lives, at risk of the death penalty for their sexuality, and across this House, we should all be very concerned and alarmed. My hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow quoted a Taliban judge, and I will repeat those shocking words:
“For homosexuals, there can only be two punishments: either stoning, or he must stand behind a wall that will fall down on him. The wall must be two-and-a-half to three meters high”.
There are countless more stories of LGBTQI+ people in Afghanistan being disproportionately targeted and subjected to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic sexual violence, forced marriages, honour killings, conversion practices, and execution.
In the face of this oppression, we must hear from the Minister today that this Government will commit to supporting those who are fleeing it, in the face of the most unimaginable threats. That means committing to things that actually protect those LGBTQI+ Afghans, not just preaching empty promises and hollow words. I hope we will hear that the Government will heed the advice of Stonewall and Rainbow Migration, who are calling for a meeting that brings together resettlement countries, resettlement agencies, civil society groups from the LGBTQI+ community, and experts to ensure that robust processes are developed for the assessment, protection and resettlement of those refugees. Additionally, the Government must urgently give permanent residence to LGBTQI+ Afghans, so that once they have arrived in this country, they will not be at risk of being deported to the conditions I have described. I believe the figure of 15,000 was quoted with regard to this Government’s record on deporting people back to Afghanistan. That is a shameful record.
In this country, although we cannot pretend that the struggle for LGBTQI+ rights has been entirely won, we know that conditions are safer and that people will be welcomed with open arms, not least by organisations such as Stockport Pride in my own constituency. Its work celebrating the LGBTQI+ community in the Stockport borough is a sign of hope that progress and change can be made. If we want to be a country that is outward-facing and principled, I hope that the Minister will listen to what Members of this House are describing today, and pledge to immediately address this crisis.