A Movement to Keep Gay Refugee Out of Uganda

A petition was launched Monday to prevent Kenyan Airways from transporting Ugandan refugee Robert Segwanyi back to the homeland that he fled last year.

Segwanyi escaped Uganda after being arrested and beaten, and he applied for asylum two weeks after landing in the U.K. Blogger Paul Canning said that because of his poor defense to the refugee board, authorities in the U.K. do not believe that Segwanyi is gay, and he added that they are being "completely unreasonable" in allowing evidence to explain Segwanyi's situation.

According to Change.org, which is hosting the petition, Segwanyi is scheduled for deportation Thursday on Kenya Airways KQ410, leaving Heathrow Airport at 8 p.m.

In a similar move, Air France recently refused to fly a gay man who was to be deported back to his home country of Cameroon.

Several former refugees and people seeking asylum gathered in Washington, D.C., earlier this month for the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Refugee Convention. For the first time, a gay Ugandan was selected to participate. According to LGBT Asylum News, the refugee known as Dyson asked the convention's representatives to continue their ongoing support for refugee causes.