PETALING JAYA, Feb 22 — Yew Fook Sam flew to the United Kingdom in 2005 in search of a life where he no longer had to be ashamed of his sexual identity.
That dream is now on the verge of shattering as the UK’s Home Office has rejected his final appeal for asylum.
Liverpool Echo reports that the government cited his single status as grounds for rejecting his claim and said that the pensioner had lied about his sexuality in order to stay in the UK.
Documents seen by reporters from the English daily state that a judge sitting at an Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) found “numerous inconsistencies and discrepancies” in his account which led to the rejection of his appeal.
He is now forced to report to immigration officials every fortnight and the possibility of deportation has cast a looming shadow over his future in the UK.
The pensioner told Liverpool Echo that he was exasperated by the revelation, adding that his old age meant that he didn’t want or need a partner at this point in life.
“I was so disappointed and depressed after being told that I was not gay. How can I prove it?
“I tried to tell the Home Office, ‘I am 67. I don’t need sex’,” he was quoted as saying.
He has been associated with several LGBTQ associations in the UK and is a common fixture at Pride parades in Liverpool, but his involvement in queer activism doesn’t seem to be providing enough proof for the Home Office.
He said he feared that he could be thrown into jail, attacked, or killed if he is forced to return to his home country where sodomy still remains illegal under a colonial-era law.
However, all hope is not lost as his friends at Open Table, a queer-friendly Christian support community, are working tirelessly to help the 67-year-old remain in the UK.
“There are many people in later life who find themselves single, whatever their orientation.
“They do not cease to be gay, bisexual or straight because they do not have a partner,” said Open Table network coordinator Kieran Bohan in a blog post on the issue.
An online petition calling to stop the deportation has been signed by more than 1,000 people so far.
He had previously come out as gay to his wife in 1988 which led to her severing ties with him and leaving with their two children to the United States.
He has not had contact with his family since they left.
In 2005, he arrived in the UK on a tourist visa and worked in southern England before moving to Liverpool.
His case highlights the difficulties faced by LGBTQ individuals seeking asylum in the UK in order to escape discrimination in their home countries.
Thomson Reuters Foundation states that the UK government only approved 22 per cent of asylum claims based on sexual orientation in 2017, down from 39 per cent in 2015.
