Omar Kuddus interviews Transgender woman facing repatriation

Sept. 1, 2012 - PRLog -- In an interview Fernanda Milan  -   a transexual woman facing deportation from Denmark  -   talks to global LGBT and human rights advocate Omar Kuddus of GayAsylumUK ,  about her pending deportation from Denmark to Guatemala,   and why repatriation would equal a death sentence.

  Kuddus: Can you tell how you came to Europe and landed up in Denmark?

FM:  “I came to Denmark via Switzerland, in an airplane, running away from the attacks in Guatemala and afraid of my life as a human rights activist, having been attacked before many times, but this time was different cause I was attack by a police officer, and police had executed transgender activist before, there are other stories of arrest and kidnaps by authorities, that never end up well, and I was terrified for my life.”

            Kuddus:  How long have you been in Denmark and why do you feel that Denmark is now “your home”?

FM:  “I have never quoted, that Denmark is now my home, for I never had the opportunity to live a normal life here, go to school, have a job, or have a real relationship, I still feel like a foreigner, and been living here for more than 3 years. But I want to find a place that I can call home, and where I feel safe to develop as an activist and as a human being.  And I am sure that Guatemala is not that place.”

             Kuddus:   How and why did you land up in Sandholm?

FM:  “I land in Sandholm because I wanted to start my asylum process in Denmark, after kindly "LGBT Denmark" give me some legal advice in the matters, Sandholm is the most popular place in the asylum system, so I went there cause it was the info that I had, in time, I have meet people who work in different camps, and with more progressive ideas about transgender, so it would have been completely different story if I knew how to start with.”

           Kuddus:     Why did you run away from Sandholm and why you felt the need to and also   -  if the rape was a factor   -  why did it not be reported  -   or why it was felt that it should not be reported?  Also,   how long after was this event made public knowledge or stated to the authorities or the Red Cross?
             
FM:  “Well I run away mainly because of the rapes, but the harrasment and the conditions of life in this centres are no much fun, especially in Sandholm, I didn't reported immediately, because I suspected that I would find my self myself with people with a lot of lack of information, and after the attention of the media in my case, especially the rape, and the answer of "Ann la cour" on this matter, I know I was right, never the less, the rape was reported to a judge,  and in Sandholm police, when I reported it to both in February, 2011, more than a year after the events.”

             Kuddus:   How did you feel when the hormone treatment was stopped in Sandholm and now that it has been reinstated has it had any side effects?

FM:  “The hormone treatment suspension was hell, my body started to have male features, after I have been on it for many years. Now that is restarted again, there are so many things that are irreversible, so they going to be hard and expensive to redraw, wouldn´t like to give many details about it.”

              Kuddus:   How do you feel living at the International Women’s centre in Denmark and do you feel comfortable living there?

FM:  “The facts of living in the nest, even though is hard for the waiting process, is been very good, and is the only place that I found a safe staying in this country, and proves that transgender and women can live together, I share bathrooms, kitchen and other common areas with them, and never had been complaints about it.”

Kuddus:   Why are you now terrified of being sent home?  What is life like for you and others back home in Guatemala and the problems faced by you and other transgender women?
             
FM:  “Life in Guatemala as a transgender is mostly non-existent, you get sent out of home in a very young age, without a chance to have school, medicine or a normal job, it is horrible to be a transgender person in Guatemala, but being public and activist make more exposed and vulnerable to attacks or even executions by the government. Of course I am terrified, cause is not only the attention that I already had there as an activist, but all this information and what happen in Denmark has reach Guatemala also.”

             Kuddus:   Why you want to stay in Denmark?

FM:  “I want to stay in Denmark, because even though the transgender community does not have a perfect life here, there are no killings like in other parts of the world, especially in Latin America.

I think Denmark, should respect and agreed with the human rights agreements about persecution for gender identity or sexual orientation. the conditions of the LGBT asylum seekers around the world, should be taken seriously, and as a community is our responsibility, to came out with our stories, to try to make this better, I wouldn´t dare to bring up other cases cause the only story that it is for me to tell is mine, as everybody has a right to a privacy too.”

             Kuddus:   Is there anything else you would like to say?

FM:  “I hope everyone can work with this, because even though it is important to spread the word is very also emotional for me to repeat and experiment the feelings, once again.
I would like to offer my best regards and great-fullness to all for trying to get involved in my fight to stop my deportation from Denmark, and signing the petition.”
http://www.skrivunder.net/stop_deportation_of

There are events been organised to protest against Fernanda’s imminent deportation back to Guatemala on September 17th outside the Danish Embassy in London on Monday 10th September and in Denmark on Sunday 16th September in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Fernanda Milan Video http://youtu.be/DbjerOkVQtI





ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

Campaign launched to save Guatemalan Trans woman from deportation
Fernanda Milan, who was placed in a male accommodation centre and raped ‘many’ times when she first arrived in Denmark, is due to be deported back to Guatemala 17 August 2012 | By Anna Leach
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/campaign-launched-save...

Save Fernanda Milan          
https://www.facebook.com/SaveFernandaMilan

Reden International
http://www.redeninternational.dk/

Special report: Transphobia and hate crimes in Guatemala.
http://www.portalsida.org/news_details.aspx?ID=10425

Save Fernanda Milan
http://transactivist.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/save-fernanda-milan/

Transgender woman Fernanda raped in a Danish centre for asylum seekers. In Denmark you are a man if it says so on your papers.
http://uncommon-scents.blogspot.co.uk/view/sidebar



There is also a protest taking place outside the Danish Embassy in London on Monday 10th September.
http://79.170.40.33/angelsforum.co.uk/phpforum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23081&start=0


DINAMARCA: Trans é violada e vê pedido de asilo negado
http://portugalgay.pt/news/Y19081/dinamarca:_trans_e_violada_e_ve_pedido_de_asilo_negado

Voldtaget og siden tvangsudvist
http://www.arbejderen.dk/artikel/2012-08-23/voldtaget-og-siden-tvangsudvist