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Facebook is being used to help support gay refugee’s claims to asylum in Canada, according to the Canadian Press.

Since 1992, people seeking refuge in Canada have been permitted to claim status based on their sexual orientation. The asylum seekers are required to prove their claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board, which can prove difficult for people coming from countries in which homosexuality is illegal.

“Sexuality has always been very complicated and when you have to prove it as a matter of life and death you will use any resource you have available to you,” says Diego Macias of Among Friends, a Toronto-based gay and lesbian refugee support group.

“During Pride, we took hundreds of pictures and we have a Facebook group and when people sign up to that group we encourage them to show their membership to the IRB member,” adds Macias.

In more than 75 countries people face jail, torture or death for being homosexual. Acts of homosexuality are punishable by death in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sudan.

A homosexual person in Malaysia could spend 20 years in prison. In Egypt, openly gay men are subject to “sexual immorality” charges punishable by jail time.

Last week in Winnipeg, Canada, a federal court judge upheld a decision to ship a Nigerian man back to his native country because the IRB ruled his claim of being gay was a hoax. He says his life is in danger if he goes home.

Experts say it can take different components to paint a convincing picture of one’s sexual orientation for the Immigration and Refugee Board.

“I have used Facebook (because) people put stuff on there about themselves and who they are, and in a relationship with,” says immigration lawyer El-Farouk Khaki, who specializes in representing gay and lesbian refugee claimants.

Khaki explains how many in this situation have spent years - even decades - trying to hide their sexuality back in their country of origin, so any glimpse into a claimant’s new life can help.

“Basically it’s like a jigsaw puzzle and you just try and take the little pieces here and there and you try and construct a larger picture of a person’s life,” he explains.

Claimants can use letters from family and friends, pictures at Pride festivities and memberships on gay chat rooms. Incorporating one of the most used web-based networks in the world is just the next logical step, says Khaki.

[via Best Gay Blogs]

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