A man who was once told he was 'not gay enough' to stay in the UK is now loving life in the city.
Yew Fook Sam faced being sent back to his home country where homosexuality is illegal - because the government said he was lying about his sexuality. The 71-year-old feared deportation to Malaysia, where he claims he could have been thrown in jail, attacked or killed.
Home Office officials believed he had lied about his sexuality in order to remain in the UK, citing the fact he does not have a male partner as evidence.
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Now, five years after being granted asylum in the UK, Sam is settled in Kirkby. Initially, Sam did not choose to live in Liverpool but rather ended up in the city because of a Home Office placement. Despite this, he said it was Scouser's kindness and willingness to accept him as gay that made him call the city home - he's even grown to love The Beatles, his favourite song being Let it Be.
He told the ECHO: “I love The Beatles museum a lot, it has so much history for Liverpool. It reminds me of my school days and when I got to the UK, my first priority was to go to the gallery and now I’ve taken photos with all of the statues. I love Kirkby now and have made lots of friends. The people of Liverpool are so friendly to me and easy to get along with. Honestly speaking, I openly tell them I am LGBTQ+, and it doesn’t even matter to them.
"I don’t have to hide my sexuality anymore. I don’t miss my own country because if I told them I was LGBTQ+ or they had found out, I would probably be in prison for 20 years plus public whipping.”
Sam said he lived a lie in Malaysia, where he got married at the age of 30 and had two children. His wife left him in 1988, after discovering he was gay and took their children to the USA, and he has had no contact with them since.
The former restaurant manager arrived in the UK in 2005 on a visit visa and remained – working in the south of England. In 2016, he was arrested for working illegally and detained for 10 months in an immigration centre before being housed in Home Office accommodation in Liverpool in 2017 and, later, in Kirkby, where he now lives.
In documents seen by the ECHO, a judge sitting at a First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) said: “Taking all of the evidence in the round, I do find the appellant is not a homosexual as he claims.”
And, in refusing an appeal, a judge of the Upper Tribunal stated the original judge “provided detailed and cogent reasons for finding that the appellant’s account of his sexuality was not a genuine and credible one, identifying numerous inconsistencies and discrepancies in his account.”
Sam previously told the ECHO he was “disappointed” by the decision and was left feeling “depressed” as a result of it. He said: “How can I prove it? I tried to tell the Home Office ‘I am 67. I don’t need sex’.”
Since being granted aslyum in 2019, Sam has gone on medication to help with his mental health problems which were caused by the five-year-long battle. He regularly attends LGBTQ+ groups such as St Bride's Church Open Table, Many Hands One Heart and Polish Migrants Organise For Change, to help combat the feeling of loneliness now he is retired.
He said: “I don’t really struggle with mental health now. I have been going out a lot and mixing with friends and not hiding my LGBTQ+ sexuality, so I have gotten used to it. I try to look after myself and not stay at home and think about the past anymore.”
Sam was given five years' leave to remain in the UK just before Christmas 2019. One month before the end of this period, he will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain.
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