Persecuted for simply being who they are; The Life of LGBTQ+ Refugees
By Zoe Schulz, myGwork
Can you imagine what it must feel like to be persecuted by your own community, simply for being who you are? Picture fleeing everything and everyone you know, simply because who you love, or your gender identity, puts your life in peril. This is the reality for many LGBTQ+ people around the world, with 72 countries currently criminalising LGBTQ+ identities and 13 of them having the death penalty as punishment. However, this goes deeper than these 72 countries, with violence and hate directed at LGBTQ+ people still present in places where the laws don’t entice it. What happens when these individuals flee this violence? Are they able to find solace and safety on our shores? The answer should be yes; yet, it rarely is. From vile treatment in detention centres, to straight out rejection for fleeing LGBTQ+ persecution, we are failing these refugees.
We often see the statistic that 72 countries still penalise LGBTQ+ identities. The exact laws in these countries vary, but usually involve either outlawing same-sex relations or criminalising gender expression. What we often fail to remember, is that many of these countries did not have a history of homophobia, biphobia or transphobia before the influence and rule of The West. The harsh reality that LGBTQ+ people in these parts of the world are faced with is a direct result of the commonwealth, with majority of them being former British colonies. Prior to their British rule, very few of these countries had such jarring attitudes against queer people, let alone laws persecuting them. Douglas Pretsell from Kaleidoscope Trust explains how anti-LGBTQ+ laws are the remnants of the British rule, “If you look at the world as a whole, around about 40% of nations have state-sponsored homophobia, half of those – about 54% – are in the Commonwealth. If you look at the rest of the world not inside the Commonwealth, it’s only 24.5% – so the Commonwealth has a big problem… This is a big problem for the Commonwealth, and it has to be addressed. Not only are [the laws] contrary to human rights, they are also a serious impediment of a successful strategy against the HIV epidemic.”
With the UK and Europe playing such a pivotal historic role in the creation of these anti-LGBTQ+ laws and attitudes, you would think they would be front and centre in protecting the lives still affected by them. Yet, this is seldom the case, with many refugees left in grim conditions within detention centres and finding it incredibly difficult to be granted refugee status based on LGBTQ+ identities, turning their plea for safety into a crisis. Antonio Zappulla the CEO at Thomson Reuters Foundation emphasizes this, “It’s an emergency that’s hidden in plain sight; one that is extremely hard to document; and one that Europe is failing to address, at a time when LGBT rights around the world remain at risk.” The UN is crystal clear, both sexual orientation and gender identity are proper grounds to claim refugee status. However, when it comes to putting this into practice, many countries are falling short. There are currently only 37 countries accepting refugees on this basis and 98% of these applications are rejected. Immigration centres are also rife with homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, forcing many to hide their identity when they arrive. Research from 2016 revealed that detention staff at UK immigration centres fail to protect LGBTQ+ refugees from harassment and discrimination, with trans asylum seekers being particularly vulnerable to threats of violence and are often placed in centres based on their gender assigned at birth, not their gender identity. On top of this, LGBTQ+ detainees can be refused access to medication, meaning those living with HIV are commonly denied access to their treatment. Zapulla continues explaining the consequence of this “For many LGBT refugees, the arrival in Europe does not represent the end of violence. Instead, because of the lack of support from the diaspora migrant community and the immigration system, they find themselves with no choice but to go back into the closet, hiding their sexual orientation, this time in a foreign country and with no trusted friends.”
For those that are granted asylum on safer shores, rebuilding their life from scratch is not a walk in the park. Refugees around the world experience much higher rates of mental illness and loneliness, with 58% of refugees in London expressing loneliness as their biggest challenge. Although they may be safer in their new home, refugees are often left with little community or support network. Samer and Fadi are a Syrian couple who left their home after Samer’s brother threatened to kill them and have had to move 6 times since to stay hidden from him. 28-year-old Samer shares some of the many barriers they have faced since trying to rebuild their lives “We planned our escape for a year. We had no money, nothing, so we saved some. But our experience in exile is not what we expected. The fears did not go away, the threats did not go away, we still live in fear. Living here has been hard. There is so much discrimination against us as Syrians and even integrating in the LGBT community here has been hard. We feel different.” Fadi also shared his experience and it’s impossible to not stand by his sentiment, “It is my right to live with the person I love, without having anyone asking me what is happening and why. I want to be free and to live a normal life.” This is why services that support and connect LGBTQ+ refugees are so vital. Services such as London Friend and Mind Islington are able to offer refugees a community and someone to talk to, a lifeline not to be taken for granted.
However, COVID-19 has sadly made it near impossible for refugees to access many of these lifesaving services. Face-to-face support has disappeared overnight, and the isolation of the lockdown is triggering for many who have had extremely traumatic past experiences. Elceta Marsha Ennis, a lesbian refugee now residing in Germany explains “We have fled countries where we couldn’t meet publicly, where we couldn’t live openly. For us, coming to Germany meant freedom, being able to meet and live openly. Now, with the pandemic, it’s like going back to that frame of mind that you were in your home country – being isolated, not being able to socialize.” Ennis is one of many LGBTQ+ refugees who is struggling without the support they would usually be able to access and many are worried that this could have severe detrimental effects. On top of this, refugee camps have been breeding grounds for the virus, with half of the people at a camp in Germany testing positive and then being forced to share facilities with everyone else. This shows, once again, that COVID-19 hits those most vulnerable and marginalised in our community the hardest.
No one should be persecuted for simply being who are they are, however it doesn’t take much digging to reveal this is the reality for many LGBTQ+ people across the world. For them, relocating to safer shores is the only option. Yet, not enough are given the opportunity to do so, and when they do arrive the fight for a free and fulfilling life isn’t over. We need to do more to support our worldwide LGBTQ+ community, whether that’s reaching out to refugees in your own community or donating to a charity that will support those overseas, we have a duty to care for one another and speak up against injustices wherever they may be.
