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So I'm Swakshadip, and I'm a PhD student at the School of Social and Cultural Studies at Tehranga Waka. Uh, so today I'll be speaking, uh, I mean, I'll be focusing on a small part of my PhD. Uh, so my, uh, PhD project is broadly looking at the experiences of trans asylum seekers who are coming to this country. Uh, And their experiences during the asylum seeking process, as well as after they have gained refugee status, uh, with, uh, [00:00:30] different institutions such as healthcare, uh, education, housing, employment, and, uh, other such institutions. So, uh, firstly, I think I'll, uh, give a brief background of why trans people come here to seek asylum, and I think, uh, this is an extension from the keynote lecture that you had in the morning. Uh, so I won't go into the numbers. So, uh, Yeah, so a lot of trans people come here because, uh, they are escaping persecution, uh, in their home countries, uh, [00:01:00] where they're, uh, uh, persecuted under various legislations, uh, that could be, uh, anti homosexuality laws, anti crossdressing laws, and, uh, so and so. So, uh, many trans people, uh, come here, although, uh, out here in New Zealand receives a very small number as compared to other European nations or probably the U. S. or Canada. Uh, so, uh, yeah, many, uh. Trans people come here to pursue the Asylum [00:01:30] claims and get a Conventional Refugee Status if they are accepted, their Asylum claims are accepted. So in this presentation, I'm going to sort of look at how the Asylum decisions are shaped and the major themes that are presented. are taken into consideration during the asylum claims. So, uh, as a part of my PhD, I'm sort of focusing on a lot of things, uh, organizational interviews. So basically interviews with people, uh, like who are, uh, you know, like associated with advocacy for trans asylum [00:02:00] seekers, also interviews with, uh, trans asylum seekers themselves and, uh, case law analysis using multiple case studies research. So the, this is the thing that I'll be focusing on for today. Cool. So I think I'll talk about my methodology, uh, for a bit. So, uh, I mainly collected, uh, the case laws from New Zealand Legal Information Institute and Ministry of Justice Database. And uh, the main challenge there was a very limited public availability of relevant [00:02:30] cases. So I only got like 12 relevant cases, whereas of course this is not the number of people that seek asylum here. So basically, uh, firstly, Aotearoa doesn't release. the exact count of trans people coming here and seeking asylum. So it's kind of subsumed within a rainbow asylum seekers. So there's no exact count for trans asylum seekers particularly. Also, uh, Autera also doesn't release all the case laws. So only a few selected are, uh, [00:03:00] made available in the public domain. So, and, uh, in my communication with MBI as well, uh, they mentioned that, uh, I couldn't get access to things that are not publicly available. So, yeah, so that was a challenge. So, uh, uh, the case laws I got, uh, were spanning from 1999 to 2021. And, uh, uh, between 1999 and 2010, all the cases that were available were from Thai nationals. Uh, and, uh, afterwards from 2011 to 2021, there was, [00:03:30] uh, there were two cases from, uh, Chinese nationals. Uh, one case each from Indian, Samoan, Fijian, South African, and British nationals. Uh, And of course, uh, I sort of tried to, uh, avoid oversimplification because of course, uh, asylum claims, uh, I mean, involves a lot of things. So it's not just gender, but also a lot of other things taken into consideration. So I sort of tried to oversimplify it, uh, and, uh, uh, really just focused on, uh, the [00:04:00] relevant themes that also has appeared in like international migration literature as well. Cool. So. Cool. Cool. So, I think I got, uh, a few, uh, themes, uh, analyzing the case law. So, uh, the first one is country of origin information. The second one is genuine link to Aotearoa. The third one is, uh, need for gender affirming services, which is, of course, uh, uh, primary thing for, uh, many trans asylum seekers who are coming here, uh. And, uh, fourth one was second protection claim. [00:04:30] So this is basically when a trans person has already, uh, like got asylum status or a refugee status, uh, like somewhere in the world. And then they come here to, for, uh, you know, like second protection claim. So, and, uh, then mental health. So, but for this presentation, I think I'll be focusing on the first three because this came up in like almost every case law I analyzed. Cool. So I think firstly, I'll talk about country of origin information. So, uh, the country of origin [00:05:00] information, of course, plays a very important role in determining asylum claims, uh, with the availability and reliability of country of origin information being very crucial. Unlike some countries like the UK and France, New Zealand lacks a concrete system for determining country of origin information. So, uh, and, uh, the responsibility for, uh, providing all the, uh, documents, uh, which, you know, like, uh, like portraits, persecution is on the shoulders of the applicant. So, it's for the applicant to determine whether, you know, like, [00:05:30] they're, uh, escaping persecution or, you know, like, how they're being persecuted rather than, uh, New Zealand having that sort of documents or, like, country of origin information. Uh, so, uh, uh, the study sort of highlighted the inadequacy of country of origin information in capturing unique circumstances. For instance, cases involving Thai asylum seekers portrayed Thailand as a very open democracy, uh, despite discrimination against, uh, transgender and gender variant individuals. Employment rights and legal gender [00:06:00] recognition were denied in Thailand at that point, uh, when, uh, these people were coming, uh, here to seek asylum. And also, uh, that constituted potential persecution according to international human rights standards, but that wasn't, uh, taken into consideration as such by, uh, authorities here in New Zealand. Uh, also in the case of an Indian applicant, the decision portrayed that India recognized third gender and had implemented transgender rights at 2019. However, uh, [00:06:30] uh, the, the decision, uh, didn't really take into consideration the complexities associated with this act and, uh, and this act, uh, while it appears protective on the surface, it lacked, uh, enforcement mechanisms. And this was completely ignored by the immigration and protection tribunal. Uh, Also, it also highlighted the influence of an individual's country of origin and their, on their asylum claim assessment. So for example, uh, uh, [00:07:00] Of course, we are aware of the broader theme, especially last year when there were a lot of Ukrainian refugees coming into Europe and how there was, uh, like a discussion on like how Ukrainian refugees are treated differently from like other asylum seekers or refugees. So uh, that's the same here in New Zealand as well. So in New Zealand, nationality played a significant role in evaluating an applicant's contributions and vulnerabilities. For example, an applicant from the United Kingdom. with IT skills, received very favorable treatment, while an Indian applicant with the same [00:07:30] qualifications faced different considerations, uh, and was, uh, ultimately denied protection, and, uh, this demonstrates how skill and vulnerability assess differently based on nationality. And so then I'll move to genuine link to Otterwa or belonging to Otterwa. Uh, so the concept of belonging and genuine link to the host country is a very crucial theme in, uh, assessing the credibility of asylum claims both in New Zealand and globally. Uh, and this theme becomes very evident [00:08:00] in response to refugee crisis where belonging often hinges on shared characteristics like ethnicity, race, religion, or country of origin. And again, Ukrainian crisis is, uh, example of this as well. So, uh. In New Zealand, establishing a general link to the country holds a central place in the refugee status determination process. Authorities consider whether asylum claimants would face persecution upon returning to their countries of origin. Uh. And in the case laws examined in this study, asylum [00:08:30] claimants consistently established a sense of belonging in New Zealand through relationships with partners, friends, and family members. For example, in the case of a South African citizen, the asylum claimant's connection with family members in their home country had been severed, while all close relatives, including their mother, resided in New Zealand. So, a return to their home country would leave them without any support. both financially and emotionally. Similarly, in the case of the applicant from the UK, the appellant's [00:09:00] close relatives, including their mother and nephew, lived in New Zealand. So, and their deportation to their home country would place a burden on their mother who relied on them for care. However, having some form of of link or family support in their home countries could complicate asylum claims, as seen in some other cases. So in the case of a Samoan applicant, the strength of family ties in New Zealand was assessed based on the appellant's disclosure of their trans identity. to their family members. Uh, [00:09:30] the evaluation appeared to follow the westernized notions of coming out and emphasizing individuality and overlooking, uh, non Western perspectives of selfhood and identity. Similarly, in the case of an Indian applicant, the appellants break up with their partner, who was a New Zealand citizen, and their connection with their family in their home country were viewed as indications that they had more, uh, belonging to India than to New Zealand. In, Asylum claims basically any form of belonging in the home country is viewed negatively, uh, with the [00:10:00] expectation that claimants demonstrate strong ties in New Zealand through relationships with citizens or residents. Uh, and, uh, then the last theme I'll focus on is a need for gender affirming services. Uh, so as we all know, the process of transitioning and, uh, gender, accessing gender affirmative care is a very crucial aspect of the experiences faced by a lot of trans people, uh, and, uh, including those who seek asylum as well. So transitioning procedures, including hormone therapy and [00:10:30] surgeries, help transgender people to alleviate gender dysphoria, but in most legal discourses, it's often seen as being committed to their failed gender identity, uh. Um, in the context of asylum claims, the desire to transition has played a significant role in determining outcomes, particularly in the USA, where successful claimants often express their intent to undergo transition procedures, including surgical interventions. In contrast, asylum claims by transgender individuals who did not wish to undergo through [00:11:00] transition procedures face denial, with the courts emphasizing that the desire to dress as the opposite gender alone does not establish transgender identity. However, in New Zealand, among the 12 cases, uh, which was assessed, uh, in this study, uh, 10 indicated that the asylum claimants were either undergoing or had undergone transition procedures such as hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery. Uh, so the desire to access these procedures as a central reason, uh, uh, the desire to access these [00:11:30] procedures was a central reason for their, uh, wish to remain in this country where such care was either unavailable or Highly inaccessible in their home countries. So in one case, the appellant who is a trans man from South Africa, uh, did not want to undergo transition procedures due to concerns about the unavailability of appropriate technology to achieve their desired body. However, despite their gender dysphoria, they were identified as a woman in the case laws and feminine pronouns were used consistently.[00:12:00] In the cases of Fijian and Samoan applicants. These people highlighted the lack of access to gender affirmative care in their home countries, Fiji and Samoa, respectively. They faced financial barriers to obtaining hormones and surgery, often resorting to unsafe means to acquire hormones. The absence of medical supervision in their home countries posed physiological and psychological risks. However, during their hearing with the Immigration and Protection Authority, Tribunal. Uh, [00:12:30] the tribunal acknowledged that infrastructure constraints in Fiji and Samoa exists. However, it concluded that the appellants will still have access to general health care. Uh, Um, and, uh, the, uh, Immigration Protection Tribunal did not prioritize gender affirmative care as a compelling reason to stay in New Zealand or seek asylum. So, and this stance is very inconsistent with Principle 17 of the Yogyakarta Principles recognizing the right to the highest attainable gender affirmative care as a basic human right for transgender [00:13:00] individuals. So, uh. In conclusion, uh, transitioning and accessing gender affirmative care are significant factors in asylum claims by transgender asylum seekers. While some countries like the USA prioritize these considerations, the Immigration Protection Tribunal in New Zealand has not consistently recognized transitioning as a primary reason for seeking asylum. Rather, sometimes they are seen to be constraining the public health system and denied asylum status based on that, as [00:13:30] it was revealed in a few of my organizational interviews, which I'm still working on. And this divergence in approach underscores the need for greater awareness of transgender rights and healthcare access as essential components of asylum claims. Uh, thank you for listening and I, I'm open to web questions and answers.
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