A Cameroonian man who claimed asylum in the UK on the grounds he was secretly gay has been revealed to have left behind a wife and child. Marius Kamna, now 35, travelled to Britain on a temporary visa for the 2021 UN climate summit in Glasgow, thereafter seeking refuge in the UK based on his sexuality. Conference colleagues would not have known was that Mr Kamna was also leaving behind a spouse and child in his home country. The asylum panel that ultimately granted him refugee status was never informed about his heterosexual marriage in Cameroon. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say However, Mr Kamna maintains it was his marriage that represented the deception, not his claim to be gay. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Kamna revealed he has identified as gay since his mid-teens, and entered into marriage solely as a strategy to escape widespread homophobia in Cameroon. He explained how his parents had thrown him out of the family home upon discovering his sexuality, and the union was arranged specifically to win back their approval. "I pretended I was changing," Mr Kamna said, "an official was bribed, I signed some documents and I asked for forgiveness from my family". The marriage to his wife Segning was consummated, resulting in the birth of his son Emanuel, who is now seven years old. Mr Kamna acknowledged that maintaining this false existence became unbearable, and the Glasgow conference presented an opportunity to finally live authentically, even though it meant leaving his family behind. Since departing Cameroon, Mr Kamna has not seen his son in person, though he claims to telephone him regularly and send financial support to the boy's mother. He now holds official refugee status and works full-time as a heavy goods vehicle mechanic. LATEST MIGRANT CRISIS STORIES Ex-Border Force boss names Keir Starmer's 'biggest mistake' on migration since Labour rose to power Border Force rush to respond to migrant boats as Britain braces for crossings surge in just hours PICTURED: Devastation at TWO taxpayer-funded hotels in wake of arsonist asylum seeker Mr Kamna has relocated from Cardiff to Newport, where he lives closer to his partner Jonathan, an asylum seeker from Sierra Leone who is studying for a diploma in heavy vehicle maintenance while also working at a commercial garage. The move followed what Mr Kamna describes as a malicious whispering campaign within the local migrant community, with false rumours suggesting he has a wife and child in Britain. A woman named Aurelle, who visits from Birmingham with her son, is merely a close friend who assists many Cameroonian newcomers, he insists. When initially approached by journalists at his workplace near Cardiff, Mr Kamna first described himself as bisexual before quickly correcting himself. "No, that's not true, I am gay. That is the way I've been since I was 15 or 16," he stated. He attributed his initial hesitation to years of concealing his true identity, adding: "I had so many secrets, I was persecuted". "I am so happy here," Mr Kamna said, "when you come here you have to do everything right because you don't want to go back". Some 1,377 asylum seekers, representing two per cent of total claims, cite their sexual orientation as grounds for remaining in the UK, leading to suggestions that some applicants may be exploiting the system. Cameroon actively prosecutes LGBTQ+ individuals, who face discrimination, social stigma and formal legal penalties throughout the country. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter