Organisations Supporting LGBT+ Refugees and Asylum Seekers
The latest figures from 2018 show that over 107,000 people fled to Europe by sea. Some people have few other options and travel to Europe on poor quality, overcrowded vessels at risk of sinking. Tragically, since the beginning of 2017, over 2,700 people are believed to have died or gone missing while crossing the Mediterranean. LGBT refugees face some of the most difficult circumstances in the world: forced often to flee their countries for the crime of love, or in the face of political and social violence, LGBT+ refugees need support to enable them to escape, find safe havens, and integrate into society. To that end, in this article we’re exploring some of the amazing organisations that provide invaluable support to LGBT+ people who find themselves in such dire situations.
International
International Railroad for Queer Refugees
The IRQR is an organisation that helps refugees that have escaped to Turkey, usually from social situations in the Middle East that have criminalised homosexuality. The IRQR understands that for many, Turkey is a stopping point where refugees get caught in poverty traps whilst waiting to hear if they can move on to Europe, and to that end the organisation pledges to provide basic necessities to Queer refugees so as to help them escape this. Through financial support to help resettlement and safe housing also, the Railroad is responsible for helping countless people get to safety rather than succumb to being trapped just for being LGBT+.
Rainbow Railroad
The Rainbow Railroad works with LGBT+ refugees to provide them the support they need to live with dignity and in safety. By assessing the situation of each refugee, and understanding the circumstances they’re in, Rainbow Railroad can tailor its services to each one, including helping provide travel to the refugee’s destination country and bridging post-arrival transport as well. Further to this, the organisation also undertakes vital research to better lobby for LGBT+ rights for refugees across the world.
America
HIAS
HIAS is an organisation that wants to give refugees safety and freedom. Through organising a Preferred Communities Special Populations project, which enables LGBT+ refugees to access specialised and intensive support to come to America and integrate into society effectively. By building a support network through therapists, volunteers, and case managers, the organisation support refugees to get the relevant documentation, settle and integrate into society comfortably.
Global Faith & Justice Project
GFJP aims to combine resources for LGBT+ asylum seekers to access, including highlighting organisations and resource packs that asylum seekers can reach out to better help their situation. This also includes organisations which are able to provide asylum attorneys, and advocacy, as well as social networks and groups to help aid integration. From start to finish, the collection is a comprehensive guide for refugees on the options available to them.
France
ADHEOS
ADHEOS is a French charity that helps refugees and asylum seekers in France integrate into French society by providing language lessons, as well as providing legal support as necessary. Particularly, ADHEOS works to draw on connections with existing centres in France responsible for the paperwork and applications, in order to make the necessary links between refugees and their case handlers to speed up the process and enable refugees to access the benefits of an asylum claim in France.
Belgium
Rainbow House
Based in Belgium, Rainbow House has a keen mission to help LGBT refugees through offering group activities and personalised follow-ups to enable anyone who wants to claim asylum in Belgium, to do so. Through the group activities, refugees can make friends and bonds to better aid their integration, and in the follow-up they can address issues such as paperwork and regularisation as they work to proceed with their claims for asylum. This two-part approach works highly effectively and has enabled many to successfully integrate fully into Belgium after succeeding with their asylum claims.
United Kingdom
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross has a 150 year old history of helping and supporting those in need when crisis strikes. The British Red Cross works with other countries to provide help, such as Greece, Bosnia and Ukraine. In 2017 in the UK the British Red Cross services reached more than 30,000 people in 58 towns and cities across the country, making them the largest provider of this kind of support in the UK.
Choose Love - Help Refugees
The Help Refugees program from the Choose Love movement started in the UK in 2015. Since then they have become an international charity, helping more than 1,000,000 people. Their model is simple: they go where the need is greatest, find the local organisations doing the most effective work, and give them what they need to help people – whether that’s funding, material aid or volunteers.
Refugee Action
Refugee Action helps refugees who’ve survived some of the world’s worst regimes. They get them the basic support they need to live again with dignity. Then they help them build safe, happy and productive lives in the UK. Refugee Action believes in the day where refugees and asylum seekers will be welcome in the UK, get justice, live free of poverty and be able to successfully rebuild their lives.
Peter Tatchell Foundation
The Peter Tatchell Foundation is a small organisation helping asylum seekers get the right advice and support including a big amount of information for LGBT+ refugees. It seeks to raise awareness, understanding and protection of human rights in the UK and worldwide.
Say it Loud Club
The Say it Loud Club was set up in 1994 to tackle the arising situation in Uganda where gay rights were not on the agenda. Since then, the organisation has moved to provide support and advocacy for LGBT+ refugees so as to help them obtain the necessary paperwork. Its founder is a refugee himself, Aloysius Ssali, who was forced to flee Uganda in 2005. Due to the UK government not recognising sexuality as a ground for asylum claim until 2010, he was forced to live without documentation in the inbetween, and now fights to ensure that other LGBT+ refugees do not have to go through the same.
Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants
Named after the famous LGBT+ movement “Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners”, LGSM is an organisation that seeks to lobby for better conditions for refugees, and support for more refugees to be able to flee to Britain. Through recognising the history of LGBT+ people in the UK as one that was historically on the wrong side of the law, the group recognise the situation migrants are in and seek to improve it through utilising people power.
Micro Rainbow
Micro Rainbow is a UK-based charity that helps LGBT+ refugees and asylum seekers in a number of ways. First and foremost, they provide a safe shelter for refugees to stay at to keep them off of the streets whilst their applications are filed, which the organisation helps with. Further to this, they provide classes, access to services, and work to ensure the social inclusion of refugees when they come to Britain. Through their research they also explore and understand the issues affecting refugees, so that they might better address these to lead to an increase in quality of life.
Greece
United Nations Refugee High Commission Greece
This international organisation is active in many countries, Greece being one of them. Greece has received a very large amount of refugees in the past years due to its geographical location and the United Nations Refugee High commission is working hard to help. This global organisation is dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.
Hellenic Red Cross
The Hellenic Red Cross was founded in 1877 and has since been recognised by the International Committee of Red Cross and is now an equal partner of the family of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It is the largest non-governmental organisation in Greece and it is always aiming in alleviating human pain in times of war and peace, supporting a number of people, including refugees. “They helped with guidance, correct information and assistance for health, social and legal issues”, says Mustafa Rudin, a refugee from Syria.
Zeuxis
“ZEUXIS” means to connect, to bring together, to bridge. ZEUXIS is a non-profit organisation, founded in 2018 creating bridges between vulnerable people with anyone wanting to provide help. They have created a Shelter for Unaccompanied Minor Girls called “OIKOS” and a Day Center that provides psychosocial support to minor refugees and migrants.
Italy
Consiglio Italiano per i Rifugiati (CIR) (Italian Council for Refugees)
The Italian Council for refugees is a nonprofit and nongovernmental organization formed in 1990 with the support of UNHCR. It’s mission is to defend the rights of asylum seekers and refugees to establish an integrated and efficient system to manage the diverse phases of resettlement, integration, and eventual repatriation assistance. They have been active for 23 years during which they have assisted more than 100,000 people. Through their work they provide legal guidance, social support, reception and care for torture victims and they continually promote the right to asylum.
International Rescue Committee
This international organisation has a strong presence in Italy, the country which has received the majority of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe. Since 2017 an estimated 192,000 people have sought asylum in Italy and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) focuses on protecting them and helping them integrate into society. The IRC’s 80-plus years of experience helps the most vulnerable: children traveling alone, women and girls, and those who need psychosocial support. In 2018 they launched a key initiative in Italy, Refugee.Info, providing support and timely information for refugees and asylum seekers in need of local support services.
Spain
Kif-Kif
Registered in Spain, Kif-Kif is an organisation that was formed in response to the crackdown by the Moroccan government on homosexual men in the country. Because Moroccan law criminalises homosexuality, the organisation was forced to register in Spain and consequently covers both countries. Kif-Kif runs an LGBT+ magazine in Morocco and Spain, and has advocated through mass campaigns against the Moroccan government as a result of their continued crackdown on LGBT+ people. This included thousands of letters to free the "Tetouan 43", a group of gay men arrested in Mocorro as a result of colonial laws banning same-sex acts. Through their work, they advocate for the advancement of LGBT+ rights and help those who are being persecuted.
Madrid For Refugees
Madrid For Refugees was founded in 2015. It is a non-profit, 100% volunteer run organisation dedicated to helping and empowering refugees, asylum seekers, stateless, and migrants in the local community who are in need of international protection and/or at risk of social exclusion. They work with refugees from all over the world, such as Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Venezuela, Eritrea, Morocco, Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador. Their flagship initiative is the ‘Madrid For Refugees Community Coworking and Incubator Space for Refugees’. Through this interactive hub, they provide refugees with a space to run their own initiatives and projects, provide training and education for refugees (language, coding and digital arts courses), house a storage space for items donated to refugees, and organise community benefit events and initiatives which support MFR’s other activities including job assistance, mentorship, community integration and volunteer training.
ORAM
Oram specialises in the protection of exceptionally vulnerable refugees, including LGBT+ refugees. They were founded in 2008 ORAM’s essential work enables the international community to protect exceptionally vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers and safeguards the integrity of the international refugee protection system. They deliver educational programs for refugee professionals and assist those facing expire persecution and are in desperate need of help. They are driven by their respect for diversity and human dignity and are working to create a sustainable future for LGBT+ asylum seekers and refugees.
ONG Rescate
ONG Rescate is the successor to the International Rescue Committee Spain, as an organisation that seeks to provide support, legal advice, and attempts to help re-unite the families of refugees and asylum seekers in Spain. Espescially, ONG Rescate focuses on LGBT+ refugees, providing intervention, training, and helping to provide employment opportunities to this marginalised community. Their offer of shelter, advocacy support and welcoming LGBT+ people to Spain is vital in ensuring that LGBT+ refugees - many of whom are fleeing from countries like Morocco - are properly supported to seek better lives.
