Fridae

In the first ruling of its kind, the UK has given sanctuary to protect a transgender woman from compulsory military service in her home country of Singapore.

The Home Office had argued that being sent back to Singapore and being forced to undergo two weeks of military service a year would not amount to “serious harm.”

However, judges at an immigration tribunal disagreed. “I find that the requirement of the appellant to essentially hide her gender and live as a man, even for two weeks a year, would be wholly unreasonable,” Judge Jackson said. Jackson noted that sending her back to Singapore would be a breach of her right to a private life and expression of her gender identity.

The barrister of the woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, argued that if the Home Office returned her to Singapore it would be returning a woman to her home country to be punished as a man.

The 33 year-old came to the UK as a student in September 2004 and as accepted as having the gender of female on her Home Office ID card.

The woman has been living as a female for 10 years but has not undergone surgery, meaning that she would be expected to complete two weeks of military service a year, as is the case with all males.  She told the court of nightmares she had been experiencing of her previous military service and how dreadful it would be to be treated as a man.

The woman’s solicitors, West 12, said: “We are pleased that the plight of this transgender woman has been resolved successfully. It means she can now enjoy living a full life without any compromise to her gender identity or her personal integrity. This is a basic right denied to her in Singapore.”