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A campaign has been launched to help keep a Birmingham LGBT asylum seeker safe from being arrested or killed for her sexuality.

Espoir Njei is fighting for the right to stay in Britain. She told Birmingham Live in December that she feared for her life if she was sent back to Cameroon.

She said: "I came to the UK three years ago from Cameroon because I was fleeing prosecution because of my sexuality. It is punishable by our legal system. You are imprisoned and have to pay a huge fine but it doesn't end there.

"If you are caught by your friends or family, there is a punishment called mob beating where you might be killed. Tyres could be put over you and you will be burned, but no-one says a word because you are a lesbian or gay and this is the rule."

Cameroon is one of more than 70 countries where homosexuality is still illegal. LGBT people can face hefty fines, five years in prison and could even be tortured and killed.

Following her interview, campaigners contacted Salman Mirza, who has been supporting Espoir on behalf of charity, Migrant Voice, to see how they could help.

He said: "All you need to do is type in Espoir Njei and she's all over the web, she's one of the leading LGBT campaigners in the Midlands if not the UK, it's madness not to grant her stay."

The #IAmEspoir petition now has more than 800 signatures and campaigners are posting photos online of them carrying message of support.

Espoir is one of more than 1,000 people seeking asylum on the basis of sexuality. Data released from the Home Office states that there were 1,052 applicants seeking asylum due to persecution for their sexual orientation.

Comments on the petition call for support for Espoir as she volunteers for support groups for LGBT migrants in Birmingham's LGBT Centre and across the Midlands.

Brummies spoke up about her right to stay. Kaja Fawthrop, from Birmingham said: "Espoir has proved herself to be a hard-working and decent person during the last three years in the UK.

"She needs protection from discrimination and possible death in her home country of Cameroon. It is our responsibility as a democratic nation to help her."

(Image: Migrant Voice)

Hilary Parle, who also lives in the city, said: "This is a strong capable woman who could offer so much to our society in the UK."

In a wave of comments, preaching that love is love and it is her human right to live in freedom, her story reached others with the same struggles.

Nigerian LGBT Asylum Seeker, Vitalis Odika, who now lives in Sheffield, said: "She's meandered through homophobic attacks and assaults as she tread on her labyrinth to a place of Sanctuary in the UK. It will deter her right to live as an out and out homosexual.

"I will like to remind though that all human beings are born equal and their are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights or untouchable or irreversible rights."

The Home Office previously refused to comment on an ongoing case.

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How can we help Espoir?

To help Espoir you can sign and share the Change.org petition.

You can also write to your local MP about the campaign - the Home Office does not accept letters from the public. Find your local MP here.

It's also important to make her voice heard on social media so, post a photo (like the one above) and share with #IAmEspoir.