The UK media is reporting that a Malawian man in Coventry has applied for asylum, claiming that he is a homosexual afflicted with HIV+. The UK authorities do not believe his claim, and in an initial decision have refused him leave to remain and want him removed. However, with the complex, near-endless appeals process in the UK with claims for asylum, he has now taken his case to an Immigration Tribunal.
At his hearing he claims that he will be jailed for being a homosexual, lying thus:
“The Government in Malawi has no respect for homosexuals and I will be prosecuted if I am sent back there. I know several gays who have been persecuted.”(sic)
The asylum seeker asked that his name not be published. Untangling a UK media report, he seems to be making the bizarre claim that, although his parents know that he is a homosexual, he fears that they will find out about his HIV+ status if his details are published, and then somehow the Malawi authorities will “single him out”.
He further claimed that being HIV+ he must be allowed to remain in the UK, because treatment there is much more advanced than in Malawi. He does not mention that GoM has a program to supply free ARVs and other medication to HIV+ patients, as well as monitoring their CD4 count.
He told the immigration judge that he was in a relationship with a Coventry man and provided pictures of himself at The Rainbow, which he said was a well-known haunt for gay men in the city. Unlike in his home country, Coventry residents respect his sexual persuasion. “People here are kind”, he said. “Life here is much better than where I came from.”
In support of the asylum seeker, the UK media trots out the usual, biased, historical claims about homosexuals in Malawi. It reports that homosexuality remains a criminal offence, but does not mention that GoM has stated that it is no longer interested in prosecuting consensual, same-sex acts. We are reminded of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, who were infamously sentenced to 41 years (repeat, 41 years) with hard labour for committing the “unnatural act” of holding an engagement ceremony. There is no mention of the fact that their “engagement” was a stunt orchestrated by the US State Department, that the name “Monjeza” was invented for the stunt, and is not Stephen’s real one, and that he has stated that he is not a homosexual.
The UK media goes on to tell us that the treatment of homosexuals in Malawi has long been a cause of concern for local civil rights groups, and that campaigners say homophobic legislation is driving them underground, making them hard to reach. Doubtless, this is a reference to organisations such as CEDEP which depend on funding from foreign donors for their salaries, allowances, and trips outside; the darker they can paint the picture for homosexual rights in Malawi, the more funding they can attract.
In the homosexual media, Malawi is further trashed with the fairy story about “a new anti-LGBT law coming into effect earlier this year”. This is a reference to the Marriage Act, in which somewhere is buried the concept of marriage as being that of two people of the opposite sex. That is to say, same-sex marriage is not allowed, and so the entire Act is twisted into an anti-LGBT law.
Sources:
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/hiv-victim-fears-being-jailed-9903248
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/08/22/gay-hiv-victim-fears-prison-if-deported/
