..Though there are no official statistics on the number of Russians seeking asylum in the U.S. on grounds of their sexual orientation, there is some suggestion applications could be on the rise.
Immigration Equality, the largest organization in the U.S. devoted to helping gay asylum seekers, has fielded an increasing number of inquiries from Russia. It received 63 inquiries from Russians in 2012, up from 35 in 2011. This year, there have been 32 inquires through mid-June. The group is currently handling 28 cases for Russians.
"We have had a handful of Russians per year, but over the last couple of years that number has really shot up," said Victoria Neilson, Immigration Equality's legal director. She said the group still handles the most asylum claims from Jamaica, where unlike Russia sexual relationships between men are illegal and punishable by up to a decade in prison.
The U.S. has had a policy of awarding asylum to gay applicants on the basis of persecution fears since 1994. Asylum seekers present an application that notes their sexuality and reasons they fear persecution. It often includes letters from friends or family and medical records for victims of attacks.
Ms. Neilson said there is no "magic formula" for an applicant to prove to an adjudicator that he or she is gay but "detailed, credible testimony can be sufficient." Successful claimants cannot return to Russia even temporarily, or they would risk jeopardizing their status with U.S. authorities, she said...Read the full story HERE.
There is more to this story than just Gay's being persecuted in Russia. The Russian Government isn't running into bedrooms and making arrests. It's more a case that they're tired of the Gay activism.
So what do you think these folks will be doing over here in their free time? Just what we need.....more activists.
Read this article I posted back in June.
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1 comment:
Sounds like a good deal to me.
"It's more a case that they're tired of the Gay activism." Cannot blame them.
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