Muammar Al Khadafi

Britains already fatally flawed asylum system has been thrown into further chaos after immigration lawyers successfully argued that a lesbian woman should be allowed to stay in the UK as she may face persecution if returned to Jamaica.

The nameless woman, who now lives in Stoke on Trent, had originally been refused leave to remain in the UK, but the Upper Tribunals Immigration and Asylum Chamber ruled that she was entitled to refugee protection.

Claiming that she would face persecution now that the was 'out' as a lesbian, and that she would be depressed if forced to return a covert lifestyle, lawyers argued that Jamaica is a deeply homophobic society and that gay women risk violence including 'corrective' rape and murder.

Of course, previous rulings in 2010 had already established that the previous Home Office stance, that gays should behave discreetly and thus had, in many cases, brought persecution upon themselves by not doing so, was invalid.

Todays ruling stated that a return to discreet living for the un-named Jamaican woman would be because of fear of persecution, not by reason of social pressures.

In essence, the ruling means that Jamaica is legally unsafe for lesbians - aka any Jamaican lesbians arriving here won't be sent back so long as they are 'out'. With countless other countries also unsafe for gays, and the possibility of similar rulings, sexual orientation could well become a free pass for getting into Britain and staying here.

It's worth noting in connection to all this that Jamaica receives substantial sums in UK foreign aid - an average of £19 million per year until 2015 according to the Department for International Development (DFID). Obviously we're making a huge difference on human rights there then.

This is a contradiction we see in many nations. They're so unsafe we cannot send people back for varying reasons, yet we continue to pour vast sums of money into them. Our foreign aid is obviously failing to create cultures of tolerance and acceptance, and we're left picking up the pieces and paying the bill both overseas and at home.