LGBT Migrant charity handed nearly £1m in Lottery funding despite claiming British state kills asylum seekers

Rainbow Migration, which helps LGBT people seeking asylum in the UK, received £952,000 in National Lottery funding over 2023 and 2024 for staffing and core operating costs. The grants have prompted criticism from Conservative politicians, who argue that public funding should not support the charity’s campaigns against government immigration policies.

The charity has criticised the UK’s treatment of migrants and campaigns to end immigration detention for LGBT asylum claimants, a campaign it says has support from 112 MPs. The article reports that LGBT-related asylum claims rose 90 per cent from 2021 to 1,400 in 2023, and notes that international law bars deportation to places where people risk persecution. The National Lottery Community Fund said it was proud of its grant holders’ work; Rainbow Migration was approached for comment.