EU says gay Africans are entitled to asylum

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) says asylum can be granted in cases where people are actually jailed for homosexuality in their home country. Homosexual acts are for the most part illegal in most African countries, including Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Botswana.

The fear of imprisonment, death and punishment for homosexuality in African countries has been ruled as grounds for asylum in the European Union.

The court's ruling concerned three homosexual men from Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal who had sought asylum in Holland, but is binding for all EU countries, including Britain.

"Homosexual acts are a criminal offence in those three countries and may lead to serious punishment, from heavy fines to life imprisonment in certain cases," the ECJ ruled.

"A term of imprisonment which accompanies a legislative provision which punishes homosexual acts may constitute an act of persecution per se, provided that it is actually applied."