Nazia and Samina Iqbal, 48 and 52, fled Pakistan in an attempt to escape threats and mistreatment in Pakistan. The sisters came out of the closet some 20 years ago, and acknowledge that they are queer.
But the journey has not been easy for these sisters. Here’s their story.
An escape
Both of them knew they were gay growing up, and had to keep up a heterosexual image to blend in with the society they lived in. The sisters sought out relationships in their homeland but it always came at the risk of getting caught and being harassed.
We did pursue relationships and tried to keep it secret [but] it made us feel like we were criminals and unclean, we had to maintain our distance in public and enter through back doors to see our partners.
The two sisters, through their lawyer, are currently fighting their asylum cases in the courts of England.
The two of them asked their sister and brother-in-law for help. While maintaining their secrecy, they told them it was hard for single women to lead a comfortable life in Pakistan. Only revealing that they sought refuge because of their queer status in 2018.
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Said their brother-in-law in an interview with Sky News:
They went through a very traumatic period before finally coming over to us in 2010, all of it was unknown to me and their sister. All they kept saying to me was that it was not safe for them living there as two single women – hiding the real reason until recently when they told us in 2018.
The sisters are reluctant to return to their country and hope to stay safe in Stockport. But a judge declared it “not credible” that the two ladies are in fact, gay.
We both knew we were gay all our lives but we couldn’t accept it as it would have put our parents in hardship in Pakistan, and we couldn’t see the shame in our parents eyes for us. Homosexuality is despised in Pakistan and people are killed for being homosexual.
The news of them returning to Pakistan opened old wounds.
We are scared. We have been so upset, crying and don’t feel like [we want] anything to eat or drink.
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But it seems like the Home Office took a U-turn soon as the media’s eyes turned towards the news of them deporting the sisters. The flight to Pakistan that was supposed to leave on Saturday, did not take the sisters on-board. A spokesperson for the judge said:
Each case is considered on its merits.
The gay sisters have been moved to Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, where detainees are known to be treated poorly.
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