\n<\/p>\n
G<\/span>rowing up and living with albinism in rural Nigeria was tough for Aisha*. She and her two siblings with the condition were shrouded in stigma and lived in constant fear of being mutilated or killed. Her sister was attacked twice and her brother was kidnapped as a child by people who wanted to sell his body parts.<\/p>\n Three years ago, Aisha, 35, entered the US via the border with Mexico and registered as an asylum seeker. Her brother had already been granted asylum and her sister\u2019s case was soon to be successful, too.<\/p>\n But in March she was informed that her claim would not be heard and that she would be deported to Uganda instead \u2013 a country in east Africa deemed safe by the US Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n \u201cI was devastated and shocked when the judge denied my case,\u201d says Aisha. \u201cAll the evidence was there \u2013 my siblings were attacked in Nigeria.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Uganda the same thing happens, they take people for [witchcraft] rituals and everything. I don\u2019t know what else they needed for me to show them that I have a legitimate case.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Pupils at Kenya\u2019s Thika School for the Visually Impaired prepare to entertain guests on International Albinism Awareness Day this month. <\/span> Photograph: AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n Albinism is an inherited genetic condition that reduces the amount of melanin pigment formed in the skin, hair and eyes. It occurs in all ethnic groups throughout the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of albinism is the highest worldwide, and it affects more than one in 4,000 people in some countries, according to the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n In countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria and Uganda, people with albinism face severe threats, including ritual killings, rape and mutilation. These attacks are driven by harmful superstitions that their body parts bring wealth, political success and good luck.<\/p>\n Aisha\u2019s lawyer, Ravindar Arora, who also represented her two siblings, calls the decision to deny her asylum \u201cridiculous\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving worked as an immigration lawyer in the US for 15 years, I\u2019ve got a good sense of what is a winnable asylum claim and what\u2019s not,\u201d he says. \u201cThis should have been a slam dunk.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Kabula Nkalango, 18, talks to Dan Zlotolow, a US surgeon, and Elissa Montanti, of the charity GMRF. Nkalango lost her arm in a witchcraft-linked machete attack in Tanzania. <\/span> Photograph: Getty<\/p>\n He adds that the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown has been playing havoc with people\u2019s lives and his job. \u201cIt\u2019s insane. Trump\u2019s first term was not great \u2026 attorney generals were plucking out cases, writing their own decisions and overturning decades of precedent in the process. That was bad enough. This is easily 10 times worse.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Ikponwosa Ero, director of advocacy at Under the Same Sun, a charity helping people with albinism, the rise of anti-immigrant rhetoric and far-right movements in the US and Europe is leading to more asylum claims for people with albinism being denied.<\/p>\n \u201c[These cases were successful] up until the last couple of years, with the changes in administrations worldwide where people are looking more inward,\u201d she says. \u201cBefore that, we had an estimate of an over-90% success rate. But with the changes in administrations and political approaches [that\u2019s no longer the case].\u201d<\/p>\n Under the Trump administration, the US has entered into several new asylum cooperative agreements (ACAs) \u2013 accords that allow governments to transfer asylum seekers to third countries rather than adjudicating their claims domestically.<\/p>\n Under these arrangements, people may be removed to a \u201csafe third country\u201d, even if they have no ties to that nation. One exception to the ACAs is if someone would be persecuted or tortured in the third country.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotionFree newsletter | Every fortnight<\/p>\n Sign up to Global Dispatch<\/span><\/p>\n Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features, opinion and photography, curated by our global development team<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Arora says he submitted evidence in Aisha\u2019s case showing that people with albinism are not safe in Uganda. \u201cWe even had an expert witness testify, who is from Uganda and who lives with albinism. The judge tried to turn that around on us and said she was living in Uganda, so it must be safe,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The Ugandan government\u2019s action plan for persons with albinism 2020-25 says they are \u201ca vulnerable group that faces multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and human rights violations\u201d.<\/p>\n It adds: \u201cThey have been subjected to discrimination, banishment, cutting of body parts and amputation of limbs, torture, and murder due to \u2026 unfounded beliefs [in witchcraft].\u201d<\/p>\n Arora believes Aisha has a strong case and even if it is rejected at the next stage, the Board of Immigration Appeals, they will appeal again.<\/p>\n Aisha, who has married and had a child since she arrived in the US, says: \u201cI don\u2019t even know what to think. I was really hopeful and then my [asylum request] was denied. Still, I remain hopeful that I will be able to pursue my goals and live a normal life here.\u201d<\/p>\n *Name has been changed at the subject\u2019s request<\/em><\/p>\n This article was amended on 30 June 2026 to remove some personal information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Growing up and living with albinism in rural Nigeria was tough for Aisha*. She and her two siblings with the condition were shrouded in stigma and lived in constant fear of being mutilated or killed. Her sister was attacked twice and her brother was kidnapped as a child by people who wanted to sell his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[24889,2917,3095,4726,1231,918,1123,946,71],"class_list":{"0":"post-50805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-albinism","9":"tag-asylum","10":"tag-crackdown","11":"tag-deported","12":"tag-devastated","13":"tag-development","14":"tag-global","15":"tag-nigerian","16":"tag-trumps"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/50806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}