Winter, ‘Sûr de rien’, 2012

Bronwyn Winter, ‘Sûr de rien: les demandeurs/euses d’asile homosexuels et lesbiennes face à l’idée des “pays sûrs”‘, 2012 Australian Journal of French Studies, 49, (3), 280–294

Abstract

Among the provisions of the French law of 10 December 2003 modifying the law of 1952 on the right of asylum is the introduction of the notion of “safe” countries of origin. The rights of people coming from these countries are supposedly protected by the state; these people are thus assumed not to be at risk according to the terms of the Geneva Convention on Refugees of 1951. The first list of “safe countries” was established in 2005. It now comprises twenty countries, including five where homosexuality is illegal and several others where serious persecutions continue, as decriminalisation is relatively recent. Moreover, the list of “safe countries” contravenes the provisions of the Geneva Convention (decision of the European Court of Human Rights, February 2012). In this article I will consider this idea of “safe countries” within the context of a discussion of the situation of gay and lesbian asylum seekers in France.