Please help us save Ola!

Today's shot is of a good friend of mine Ola (it's similar to a shot I posted a few weeks back).

Olalekan M Ayelokun (Ola), is seeking asylum in the UK as he cannot live as an openly gay man in Nigeria, his life is in danger if he is forced to return, he would face death by stoning in the Muslim North of the country or 14yrs in prison in the Christian South.

Although Bradford is known as the city of refuge Ola has been refused refuge in UK after a Judge bizarrely deemed that 'having sexual relations with men was not good enough evidence of homosexuality'.

This despite the coalition governments pledge that:

"We will stop the deportation of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular countries because of their sexual orientation"

...and it is in direct contradiction of David Cameron's pledge in 2010 that...

"those Africans seeking asylum on the basis of sexual orientation and at real risk of persecution in their home countries should be allowed to stay in the UK".

This was verdict was also handed down despite witnesses who attended the hearing who knew the defendant as a gay man & had socialised with him on the gay scene for over a year (some of whom gave evidence that they had previously had sexual relations with him).

This ruling indicates that even if video or photographic evidence of the defendant having sexual relations with men had been presented to the judge this would not have been deemed sufficient evidence of homosexuality and calls into question the governments policies and the application of the law when it comes to gay asylum in the UK

To qualify for a refugee-status under the 1951 Refugee Convention (the Geneva Convention) one should have a well-founded fear of being persecuted if they are a 'member of a particular social group', who share a common characteristics and have a distinct identity due to the perception in the society of origin.

On this ground Ola should be protected by the refugee convention against persecution.

Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, forbids sending someone to a situation where he or she has a 'real risk' of being subjected to 'torture or an inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment'.

Ola has now lodged a further appeal (14th June 2012) to the upper tribunal but has yet to hear if his appeal will be granted. he is currently sleeping on my sofa as he has nowhere else to go!

We are are currently at a loss as to how to 'prove' Ola's sexuality in law given that the Judge found that actually having sexual relations with men & living life as a gay man was insufficient proof of sexuality.

Please sign our petition here;

Petition to save Ola

Please also join our FB page here

Spread the word (tweet, post to FB etc) if you have a few moments and get as many people to join this group as you are able, the more exposure we can bring to this issue the better!

Your help is much appreciated & it only takes a few moments of your time :-)