A gay asylum-seeking detainee has been granted permanent residency in Australia, more than two years after seeking asylum from Pakistan for fear of anti-gay persecution. Ali Humayun has learned of the news in the high security wing of the notorious Villawood Detention Centre, where he has been held since 2005. An unsuccessful Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) ruling in 2006 stated Humayun’s homosexual relationship with a Spanish detainee, Julio Lorenzo, was the result of detention, and he could simply avoid anti-gay persecution by moving to another part of Pakistan where he would not be known. Humayun has said his father threatened to kill him for disgracing the family. The about-face comes after Australia's immigration minister reviewed over 60 long-term detention cases. The RRT has given an undertaking to develop sexuality issues training for its members.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 23rd May 2008 - 10:51am