Transgender woman may seek refugee status
Published: Aug. 20, 2010 at 1:05 PM


CHESTER, Nova Scotia, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Immigration officials have found a transgender woman from Ireland now living in Canada is eligible to apply for refugee status, her lawyer said.

Attorney Lee Cohen says his client, Tanya Bloomfield, would be targeted for hate if she is returned to Ireland because she is being transgendered, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday.

Immigration officials Thursday gave Bloomfield 28 days to file a document to claim refugee status, Cohen said. He said he and his client then would begin preparing for a hearing that should be scheduled within the next 12 to 18 months.

Cohen said he would try to prove Bloomfield will be persecuted if she returns home, based on human rights records and the personal testimonies of other transgendered people.

"We're cognizant of the possibility that the refugee board might say, 'Well, if you couldn't find safety in Northern Ireland, why couldn't you do so elsewhere in the European Union?'" Cohen said. "That would be a legal issue, and at this point, we haven't researched it, but we will probably argue that she shouldn't be obliged to live in another country."

Bloomfield, who owns a computer business in Chester, Nova Scotia, told CBC she was encouraged by the decision.

"I think you can only but feel enthusiastic," she said. "I'm able to now remain in Canada whilst this process goes on. I'm able to continue working in my business as part of being found to be eligible. I'm able to get a work permit. I'm able to get some very basic healthcare as well."

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