In a recent report from The Australian, a judge has ‘blasted’ a refugee tribunal for failing to grant asylum to a gay Bangladeshi couple.

The two men, whose identities have been suppressed, have been in Australia since 1999, says the report. They have appeared before the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal three times, insisting that they faced persecution because of their relationship and sexuality in Bangladesh.

Considering the reasons for asylum inadequate, the men’s application was rejected by the tribunal. Of the third and latest hearing, the men’s barrister told The Australian he “was ashamed to be a lawyer and an officer of the court.”

A federal court judge has recently ordered the tribunal’s treatment of the couple unacceptable and has asked the case to appear before the tribunal again, saying that previous attempts had seen evidence ‘twisted’ and ‘ignored’.

During the three hearings, the men were asked to undergo DNA testing to confirm that they were not related and were also told they would not face persecution if they were “discreet” about their homosexuality. They were also asked if they used lubricant during sex, and when one man failed to answer the tribunal declared him not a credible witness.

Federal court judge Justice Jeffrey Spender has demanded the tribunal consider the men’s case a fourth time, saying, “the tribunal was guilty of bias, in the sense that it was predisposed to making its ultimate finding that the appellants were not in a homosexual relationship.”

The couple’s barrister, Bruce Levet told The Australian that the men were “terrified at the thought of having to return to Bangladesh”.

Bangladesh is said to have little to no identifiable gay community. Majority Muslim, many of the country’s population of 140 million suffer from poverty and homosexual acts are punishable by life-in-prison or the death penalty.