Please don’t deport me, I will be lynched! Kenyan Gay Rugby player facing deportation from UK cries out (PHOTOs)
Editor's Choice, Entertainment News, News, Politics 23:32
Kenneth Macharia, who plays for Bristol Bisons Rugby team
was still detained at Colnbrook immigration centre near Heathrow airport
pending deportation by the time of going to press.
Speaking with BBC
radio from the detention center, Macharia said “there is a lot of mob justice
that takes place in Kenya because the police are generally inefficient and the
general public has a habit of taking the law into their own hands.”
However, the Home
Office has rejected his claims stating that they deem Kenya to be safe for gay
people.
Macharia’s club and teammates have set up a petition and
launched a social media campaign in a bid to force the Home office to reverse
the decision.
A statement from the club read: “Ken’s story is yet another example of
the Home Office ignoring the risks that LGBT people face in multiple countries
around the world.
“We are providing
support for Ken at this challenging time, hoping he will not be removed from
the UK to continue his life here.
“Deporting a good, hard-working, gay man to a
country where homophobic violence and imprisonment is rife is immoral and
unjust, and should be stopped.”
Macharia has been
living in Bristol since 2009 where his mum stays and has a work Visa.
With heavy hearts we are sharing the news that one of our members has been detained pending deportation from the UK.— Bristol Bisons RFC (@bisonsrfc) November 18, 2018
Kenneth Macharia has had his request for asylum rejected and now risks being deported to Kenya, fearful of persecution and violence in Kenya because he is gay. pic.twitter.com/qySfq3XUAy
The Kenyan DAILY POST.
