Suryani is a transwoman from Malaysia. She has tried to live as a woman for several years, but she still has big problems in her home country almost every time she is in touch with authorities and has to show her official ID.

On the ID, it says that she is a man – so every time she goes out on the street, she risks being charged with ”man imposing as a woman”, which can result in up to six months in jail.

The life she led in Malaysia was becoming intolerable over the years. She can't get a job, can't get the right medical treatment, can't avoid being arrested just for being who she is and can't avoid being harassed and in danger of rape and attacks just by being out in the public.

Last year, she fled to Denmark and sought asylum. Here, she says that she can live a free life for the first time. But her case has been rejected by Danish authorities who have overlooked some important factors.

One of them is the question of religion. She's hindu, but is registered as a Muslim and can't convert.

Suryani is at risk of being arrested upon returning to Malaysia. There's a sharia court order for her that she has obtained and sent to the Danish authorities as proof that she risks arrest when she returns to her home country.

Her crime was to wear women's clothes while sitting at a café with friends. She was arrested and her case brought to sharia court. This may result in up to six months in prison. She has run away from the trial at the sharia court, and that may result in a stricter sentence.

If she is convicted, there's a high risk – because her ID says she is male - that the police will shave her hair off and put her in the men's ward. This has happened to other trans women that she knows.

Needless to say that there are some very unpleasant consequences connected with this.

 

The Danish authorities have overlooked some important factors in Suryani's case:

Firstly, Suryani can't convert from islam to hinduism, which is her chosen religion, meaning that she is forced to obey sharia law in Malaysia and can be sentenced by a sharia court.

Secondly, Suryani can't get an official recognition of her sex change and an ID that shows she is a woman, therefore she is constantly faced with harassment and abuse.

These are two important aspects that the Danish authorities have not considered.

The Danish authorities also don't believe that Suryani has been subjected to the amount of abuse that she says she has – both by police officers and ordinary citizens.

Because of her male ID, Suryani has previously been subjected to harassment and assaults by police in Malaysia. She has no possibilities of complaining or seeking the protection of Malaysia's authorities. Because of this, she was hiding in her home most of the time when she was in Malaysia.

Danish immigration authorities believe that Suryani can live a tolerable life in Malaysia and they want to send her back on April 8, 2015.

We don't find the problems mentioned above very tolerable.

A report from Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/reports/2014/09/24/i-m-scared-be-woman) also paints a grim picture of what transgender people in Malaysia have to endure.

Suryani personally knows five transgender people who have been killed in Malaysia in the past 15 years. There's no record of these hate crimes because police records don't show that the victims were transgender, but the identity of these five people - and more - are confirmed by Human Rights Watch.

We hope the Danish immigration authorities can see the problems too. So far, they haven't some of the most important factors into consideration. They've just concluded that they don't believe that Suryani is facing ”inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment” by returning to her home country.

Unfortunately, we are convinced that this is exactly what she risks on a daily basis. We want the Danish authorities to reopen the case and grant Suryani asylum.

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