Asylum: LGBT People
(asked on 5th March 2019) - View Source
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people claimed asylum in the last 12 months on the grounds of their (1) sexual orientation, and (2) gender identity; and of those, how many cases were (a) granted, (b) refused, (c) granted on appeal, and (d) refused on appeal.
Answered by
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Home Office remains committed to publishing information on the number of people claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation.
On 29 November 2018, the Home Office published experimental statistics on Asylum claims made on the basis of sexual orientation, covering the period 2015 to 2017.
These experimental statistics provide data on asylum claims from 2015-2017, by year of application, initial decision, appeal receipt, or appeal decision
The experimental statistics can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018-data-tables
SOC_00: Applications, initial decisions, and appeals for main applicants, for whom sexual orientation formed a basis of their claim | |||
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Applications | 1,768 | 2,212 | 1,936 |
Initial decisions | 1,584 | 1,845 | 1,887 |
Of which: | |||
Grants | 620 | 497 | 423 |
Refusals | 964 | 1,348 | 1,464 |
Appeal lodged | 857 | 1,103 | 1,306 |
Appeals determined | 515 | 916 | 1,477 |
Of which: | |||
Allowed | 167 | 341 | 487 |
Dismissed | 324 | 553 | 951 |
These are the latest data available, and the next planned update to these statistics is in August 2019.
Data published in this release relate to the number of asylum claims made where sexual orientation formed part of the basis of the claim. The data does not represent the number of asylum claimants who define themselves as LGB. Having an identifier that an asylum case is based on sexual orientation does not indicate that a claimant has any particular sexuality or that sexual orientation is the reason for any grant or refusal of asylum. It also does not signify whether that aspect of the claim has been accepted. Sexual orientation as a basis of claim could be due to imputed assertions or association rather than a defining characteristic of the claimant.
The Home Office do not record data on asylum claims based on gender identity or expression. The option to record this data remains under review. Historically the number of gender identity-based asylum claims has been low.
The Home Office is developing dedicated policy guidance for caseworkers considering gender identity and expression (including intersex) issues raised as the basis of an asylum claim.