Some men are forced to marry to protect the family reputation
Showing posts with label united kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label united kingdom. Show all posts
Thursday, July 15, 2010
BBC News - Specialist unit reports more male forced marriages
BBC News - Specialist unit reports more male forced marriages - June 30, 2010
Some men are forced to marry to protect the family reputation
Some men are forced to marry to protect the family reputation
Monday, March 17, 2008
Gay Asians 'Marrying to Conform'
From BBC - February 8, 2008
Gay Asians 'marrying to conform'
By Naresh Puri
BBC News
Asian gays and lesbians in the UK have married people of the opposite sex in a bid to conform to traditional values and beliefs, it has been claimed.
Gay activists said these marriages happened because some members of their community felt homosexuals brought shame on their people.
They said in some cases gay and lesbian people had been beaten and abused.
The BBC has seen hundreds of people advertising on the internet for so-called marriages of convenience.
One of them is 19-year-old Rubina, from south-east England, who placed an advert on an Asian gay website.
She said: "I just want to make life easier, I want to get my family off my back, because they're pressurising me to get married.
"In my culture it's not acceptable to be gay. If I have a marriage of convenience it will give them the illusion that I'm straight and I can carry on with who I want."
Arranged marriage
She said her family thought she was leading an independent lifestyle and would soon give in to their requests for an arranged marriage.
"If you'd been raised by parents who love you, it's difficult to let people down that you care for. You don't want them to disown you, that's why I need to fit in with Asian society and have a marriage of convenience," she said.
Fazal Mahmood is a gay rights campaigner and one of a handful of Asians prepared to speak out.
He said he was pressured by his family to get married and from this relationship he had a son. He is now divorced.
We're living in a modern day society and it's wrong that this persecution carries on
Rubina
"I've seen 16 year olds and even 40 year olds being forced into marriage just to make their family and community happy," he said.
"The situation is so serious - we've heard about gays and lesbians being attacked because of their sexuality. We've even had cases where people have tried to commit suicide because Asian society will not accept or tolerate homosexuals."
Balbir Grewal, from the Guru Granth Sikh temple, in Southall, west London, said marriages of convenience were a sin.
"The whole family suffers. We are living in 2008 and it's time they should come out to the parents. Asian weddings are so expensive and then the parents have to go through the heartache of finding out that their children have lied to them.
"I've even heard that parents have died because of the shock of finding out about these pretend marriages. But for Asian gays and lesbians, the situation is very difficult.
Rubina said: "I wish that people would understand sexuality is only one part of a person and my message to parents is that being gay or lesbian does not change your child.
"People must learn more about gays and lesbians. We're living in a modern day society and it's wrong that this persecution carries on. It's unacceptable."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7234163.stm
Published: 2008/02/08 11:17:53 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Gay Asians 'marrying to conform'
By Naresh Puri
BBC News
Asian gays and lesbians in the UK have married people of the opposite sex in a bid to conform to traditional values and beliefs, it has been claimed.
Gay activists said these marriages happened because some members of their community felt homosexuals brought shame on their people.
They said in some cases gay and lesbian people had been beaten and abused.
The BBC has seen hundreds of people advertising on the internet for so-called marriages of convenience.
One of them is 19-year-old Rubina, from south-east England, who placed an advert on an Asian gay website.
She said: "I just want to make life easier, I want to get my family off my back, because they're pressurising me to get married.
"In my culture it's not acceptable to be gay. If I have a marriage of convenience it will give them the illusion that I'm straight and I can carry on with who I want."
Arranged marriage
She said her family thought she was leading an independent lifestyle and would soon give in to their requests for an arranged marriage.
"If you'd been raised by parents who love you, it's difficult to let people down that you care for. You don't want them to disown you, that's why I need to fit in with Asian society and have a marriage of convenience," she said.
Fazal Mahmood is a gay rights campaigner and one of a handful of Asians prepared to speak out.
He said he was pressured by his family to get married and from this relationship he had a son. He is now divorced.
We're living in a modern day society and it's wrong that this persecution carries on
Rubina
"I've seen 16 year olds and even 40 year olds being forced into marriage just to make their family and community happy," he said.
"The situation is so serious - we've heard about gays and lesbians being attacked because of their sexuality. We've even had cases where people have tried to commit suicide because Asian society will not accept or tolerate homosexuals."
Balbir Grewal, from the Guru Granth Sikh temple, in Southall, west London, said marriages of convenience were a sin.
"The whole family suffers. We are living in 2008 and it's time they should come out to the parents. Asian weddings are so expensive and then the parents have to go through the heartache of finding out that their children have lied to them.
"I've even heard that parents have died because of the shock of finding out about these pretend marriages. But for Asian gays and lesbians, the situation is very difficult.
Rubina said: "I wish that people would understand sexuality is only one part of a person and my message to parents is that being gay or lesbian does not change your child.
"People must learn more about gays and lesbians. We're living in a modern day society and it's wrong that this persecution carries on. It's unacceptable."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7234163.stm
Published: 2008/02/08 11:17:53 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Friday, March 07, 2008
Background Information on Mehdi Kazemi, Gay Iranian Facing Deportation from the Netherlands
Some background information on Mehdi's case:
'A gay teenager from Iran who fled the UK for the Netherlands last
year after his appeal for asylum was refused is expected to be
returned to the UK today by Dutch authorities.
London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford has written to the
Home Secretary to request her to urgently review the case of
19-year-old Medhi Kazemi, who faces possible execution by stoning if
he returns to Iran.
Baroness Ludford, who is the Liberal Democrat European justice
spokesperson and a member of the European Parliament's Gay and Lesbian
Rights Intergroup, said:
"Jacqui Smith must recognise and act on the real threat of persecution
and even execution which Mr Kazemi would face if he was to be deported
to Iran.
"As with Ms Pegah Emambakhsh, an Iranian lesbian who was granted a
reassessment of her own asylum case after I and other parliamentarians
intervened, we need the Home Office to accept the facts and genuinely
consider the risks of deportation.
"We cannot on the one hand claim that we live in a modern and liberal
society if on the other hand we are willing to send asylum seekers
back to face stoning purely because of their sexuality."
At the end of last year a court in the Netherlands ruled Medhi must be
returned back to the UK.
He fled England last spring after his visa ran out and a Home Office
tribunal dismissed his appeal against deportation.
It is feared that if Medhi is ordered to be deported back to Iran he
may face execution for being gay.
Medhi left Iran in 2004 to travel to England on a student visa and
continue his education.
While he was in the UK he learned that Iranian authorities had
arrested his boyfriend Parham back in Iran, and that his boyfriend had
been forced to name Medhi as someone with whom he had had a
relationship.
Medhi's father had then received a visit from the Tehran police, with
an arrest warrant for his son as they wanted to put him on trial.
In late April, Medhi's uncle told him Parham had been put to death.
The Canada-based Iranian Queer Organisation, said:
"The European governments claim to be the champions of human rights
and democracy and condemn Iran frequently for its violation of human
rights; and yet they willingly pave the road for the government of
Iran to go ahead with its human rights abuses, and
arrest and execute an identified Iranian gay.
"Today, they sentence Medhi to torture and possible death by deporting
him to Iran, and tomorrow they issue statements commending this
violent and unlawful act of execution."
Human rights group EveryOne has started a campaign to save Medhi.
"We are asking the European Union to adopt a tough stance and overrule
the decision taken by Gordon Brown's Government," the group in a
statement.
"The United Kingdom is continuing undaunted to violate the
international conventions on human rights and the rights of refugees,
as well as the European directives and laws which determine the
requests for political asylum.
"They did it with the Iranian lesbian Pegah Emambakhsh, when they
refused her refugee status, claiming she was unable to prove her
homosexuality."
EveryOne is making an official appeal to the European Union and the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, to put an immediate
stop to the deportation and ensure Medhi is given refugee status.
On January 31st the European Commission said:
"Member states cannot expel or refuse refugee status to homosexual
persons without taking into account their sexual preferences, the
information relevant to the situation in their country of origin,
including the laws and ways in which they are applied."
Medhi will have to be repatriated to his country of origin because
according to the British government, he does not run any risk there.
Medhi fled in secret from England, intending to take refuge in Canada,
but was blocked by the German border police.
After hearing his story, he was sent to Holland, a country known for
granting refugee status to Iranian homosexuals, and again handed over
to the police.
However, the United Kingdom sent a formal request to Holland asking
for Medhi's return to Britain, in order to proceed with his
deportation to Iran.'
'A gay teenager from Iran who fled the UK for the Netherlands last
year after his appeal for asylum was refused is expected to be
returned to the UK today by Dutch authorities.
London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford has written to the
Home Secretary to request her to urgently review the case of
19-year-old Medhi Kazemi, who faces possible execution by stoning if
he returns to Iran.
Baroness Ludford, who is the Liberal Democrat European justice
spokesperson and a member of the European Parliament's Gay and Lesbian
Rights Intergroup, said:
"Jacqui Smith must recognise and act on the real threat of persecution
and even execution which Mr Kazemi would face if he was to be deported
to Iran.
"As with Ms Pegah Emambakhsh, an Iranian lesbian who was granted a
reassessment of her own asylum case after I and other parliamentarians
intervened, we need the Home Office to accept the facts and genuinely
consider the risks of deportation.
"We cannot on the one hand claim that we live in a modern and liberal
society if on the other hand we are willing to send asylum seekers
back to face stoning purely because of their sexuality."
At the end of last year a court in the Netherlands ruled Medhi must be
returned back to the UK.
He fled England last spring after his visa ran out and a Home Office
tribunal dismissed his appeal against deportation.
It is feared that if Medhi is ordered to be deported back to Iran he
may face execution for being gay.
Medhi left Iran in 2004 to travel to England on a student visa and
continue his education.
While he was in the UK he learned that Iranian authorities had
arrested his boyfriend Parham back in Iran, and that his boyfriend had
been forced to name Medhi as someone with whom he had had a
relationship.
Medhi's father had then received a visit from the Tehran police, with
an arrest warrant for his son as they wanted to put him on trial.
In late April, Medhi's uncle told him Parham had been put to death.
The Canada-based Iranian Queer Organisation, said:
"The European governments claim to be the champions of human rights
and democracy and condemn Iran frequently for its violation of human
rights; and yet they willingly pave the road for the government of
Iran to go ahead with its human rights abuses, and
arrest and execute an identified Iranian gay.
"Today, they sentence Medhi to torture and possible death by deporting
him to Iran, and tomorrow they issue statements commending this
violent and unlawful act of execution."
Human rights group EveryOne has started a campaign to save Medhi.
"We are asking the European Union to adopt a tough stance and overrule
the decision taken by Gordon Brown's Government," the group in a
statement.
"The United Kingdom is continuing undaunted to violate the
international conventions on human rights and the rights of refugees,
as well as the European directives and laws which determine the
requests for political asylum.
"They did it with the Iranian lesbian Pegah Emambakhsh, when they
refused her refugee status, claiming she was unable to prove her
homosexuality."
EveryOne is making an official appeal to the European Union and the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, to put an immediate
stop to the deportation and ensure Medhi is given refugee status.
On January 31st the European Commission said:
"Member states cannot expel or refuse refugee status to homosexual
persons without taking into account their sexual preferences, the
information relevant to the situation in their country of origin,
including the laws and ways in which they are applied."
Medhi will have to be repatriated to his country of origin because
according to the British government, he does not run any risk there.
Medhi fled in secret from England, intending to take refuge in Canada,
but was blocked by the German border police.
After hearing his story, he was sent to Holland, a country known for
granting refugee status to Iranian homosexuals, and again handed over
to the police.
However, the United Kingdom sent a formal request to Holland asking
for Medhi's return to Britain, in order to proceed with his
deportation to Iran.'
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Muslim Inates in UK Offered Ham
From the Telegraph and Argus
Muslim inmates offered ham - October 26, 2007
By Michael Black
Muslim prisoners at Leeds Prison were offered ham sandwiches for their packed lunch during the holy month of Ramadan, it has been revealed.
The Prison Service confirmed that inmates at the category B prison which includes many Bradford men, were given "inappropriate" menu cards during the religious period, but said the mistake was corrected straightaway.
Some of those offered the sandwiches are reportedly considering suing the prison for up to £2million compensation, claiming it was a breach of their human rights.
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Leeds Prison holds more than 1,200 male prisoners, of which more than 200 are Muslim.
Islam forbids Muslims to eat ham and pork at all times, but the prisoners reportedly said the incident was made worse because it happened during the holy month of Ramadan.
The prison denied that any Muslim prisoners had been given ham sandwiches but admitted there was a mix-up with the menus.
"An inappropriate menu card was printed during Ramadan. This mistake was rectified immediately. Appropriate menu options for the Iftaar evening meal were available throughout Ramadan," a Prison Service spokesman said.
"Prison Service guidelines state that prisoners must have a diet which meets the requirements of their religion."
Next year, in a separate case, 16 Muslim inmates from Leeds Prison are suing over claims of mistreatment, including being given food that goes against the rules of their religion.
Kate Maynard, of law firm Hickman and Rose Solicitors, said: "One of the issues they are worried about is that they were being told food was halal when it wasn't.
"They are taking this to court to try to change conditions in the prison and make conditions better."
1:36pm Friday 26th October 2007
Muslim inmates offered ham - October 26, 2007
By Michael Black
Muslim prisoners at Leeds Prison were offered ham sandwiches for their packed lunch during the holy month of Ramadan, it has been revealed.
The Prison Service confirmed that inmates at the category B prison which includes many Bradford men, were given "inappropriate" menu cards during the religious period, but said the mistake was corrected straightaway.
Some of those offered the sandwiches are reportedly considering suing the prison for up to £2million compensation, claiming it was a breach of their human rights.
advertisement
Leeds Prison holds more than 1,200 male prisoners, of which more than 200 are Muslim.
Islam forbids Muslims to eat ham and pork at all times, but the prisoners reportedly said the incident was made worse because it happened during the holy month of Ramadan.
The prison denied that any Muslim prisoners had been given ham sandwiches but admitted there was a mix-up with the menus.
"An inappropriate menu card was printed during Ramadan. This mistake was rectified immediately. Appropriate menu options for the Iftaar evening meal were available throughout Ramadan," a Prison Service spokesman said.
"Prison Service guidelines state that prisoners must have a diet which meets the requirements of their religion."
Next year, in a separate case, 16 Muslim inmates from Leeds Prison are suing over claims of mistreatment, including being given food that goes against the rules of their religion.
Kate Maynard, of law firm Hickman and Rose Solicitors, said: "One of the issues they are worried about is that they were being told food was halal when it wasn't.
"They are taking this to court to try to change conditions in the prison and make conditions better."
1:36pm Friday 26th October 2007
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