Gay pal: The queer asylum seekers who ll Berl home - Exberler

Contents:

• "CONSTANT FEAR" FOR GAY REFUGE EUROPE'S SHELTERS
• THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A GAY REFUGEE GERMANY
• REFUGE EUROPE: GERMAN AUTHORI QUTN GAY REFUGE ON THEIR SEX LIV, REPORT
• GAY PAL: THE QUEER ASYLUM SEEKERS WHO LL BERL HOME
• GERMANY, A GAY H(E)AVEN? HETERONORMATIVY LGBTIQ + ASYLUM CAS
• GAY ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE THREAT OM FELLOW REFUGE EUROPE

"CONSTANT FEAR" FOR GAY REFUGE EUROPE'S SHELTERS

Insults, abstract threats, and homophobic or transphobic attus held by the majory of society are not themselv grounds for asylum. Photo urty of KhadarKhadar, who is gay, left his hometown of Qoryoley southern Somalia aged jt 17 bee his life was danger, he said. ”Speakg at the headquarters of support group Rabow Refuge, Khadar, “a proud Mlim”, said the ment ma him unfortable, as if he uld not exprs himself 19-year-old is one of many LGBT asylum seekers Germany who have plaed about ignorant or timidatg ments ma durg their asylum the terviews, asylum seekers mt talk about why they me to Germany ont of a “cisn maker”, who asks the qutns and an terpreter who helps wh Germany’s parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage June and last weekend saw one of the world’s biggt gay pri paras Berl, prejudice agast the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) muny as terpreters are often hired om refugee muni, they n reflect attus om asylum seekers’ home untri – attus they me to Germany to groups blame the problem on a lack of basic trag on LGBT rights for cisn makers and terpreters.

”But the Thomson Rters Foundatn spoke to several gay asylum seekers who felt unfortable discsg their sexualy ont of their WORD FOR GAYIn a Berl fé, Mahmoud Hasso, a journalist and activist om Syria, scribed his experience: “When I told (my terpreter) that I wanted to clu homosexualy my grounds for claimg asylum, he dropped his pen and walked out of the terview. ”Abdullah al-Baidi, another activist om Oman now livg Saarbrücken, near the French borr, disvered his terpreter did not know the word for “gay” refuge are ma to feel unfortable durg their terview, they might whhold ccial rmatn about their se – riskg rejectn and possible portatn, said Knud Wechterste, founr of the chary Rabow Refuge.

“Wh trag, a person n bee aware of their own stereotyp or even homophobia, ” she told the Thomson Rters Foundatn. Yet when he arrived The Netherlands last sprg, he did not fd the safe haven he and four other gay travelers had to face newly arrived asylum seekers at a migrant center the remote northern town of Ter Apel.

THIS IS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A GAY REFUGEE GERMANY

Across Europe, gay, lbian and transgenr migrants say they suffer om verbal, physil and sexual abe refugee shelters, and some have been forced to move out. The s suggt a possible cultural clash: Many migrants are g om nservative Mlim untri where homosexualy is taboo to European societi that are more open to .

REFUGE EUROPE: GERMAN AUTHORI QUTN GAY REFUGE ON THEIR SEX LIV, REPORT

In Syria, for example, homosexualy is illegal, and the ant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has killed more than 30 gays those two untri over the past two years, activists say. The number of migrants acced of gay abe are jt a ty actn of the hundreds of thoands of refuge streamg to Europe. However, most abe is likely not reported bee of European privacy laws and the stigma felt by gay migrants, and there is no official tally across the Germany, the Lbian and Gay Feratn unted 106 s of vlence agast homosexual and transgenr refuge the Berl regn om Augt through the end of January.

GAY PAL: THE QUEER ASYLUM SEEKERS WHO LL BERL HOME

Most of the s me om refugee centers, and 13 clud sexual Steert, head of the feratn Berl-Brannburg, said refuge have been askg gay groups for help all over the untry, reluctant to approach police for fear of jeopardizg their asylum applitns.

Mass of people often live one big hall, whout lockable rooms or genr-separated Berl, where four hangars at the former Tempelhof airport were turned to a receptn center for 2, 100 people, four s of gay abe were reported. Maria Antonia Kipp, spokwoman for private center operator Tamaja, said 's very difficult to create safe spac for homosexuals when hundreds of bunk beds are separated only by th woon boards. On Tuday, gay rights group Schwulenberatung Berl will open a new home wh 122 beds for gay refuge operatn wh the cy of Berl and another shelter wh 10 beds was recently opened Nuremberg.

GERMANY, A GAY H(E)AVEN? HETERONORMATIVY LGBTIQ + ASYLUM CAS

Schwulenberatung Berl's Mahmoud Hasso said the new Berl shelter would be a big improvement for gay, transgenr and lbian refuge.

"Even if they don't get abed right away, they're always aaid their inty will be revealed and then they'll be targeted, " he suatn for homosexual refuge is difficult all over Europe.

The men now have asylum petns pendg before the Spanish ernment cg their homosexualy as a reason why they serve refugee stat, the nonprof Swen, a urt sentenced an asylum seeker to five months prison last summer for makg ath threats, along wh sptg the face and grabbg the throat of a fellow refugee a center Jonkopg. The attacker was "outraged that Swen protects homosexualy and all should be killed by slghterg, " acrdg to urt documents.

GAY ASYLUM SEEKERS FACE THREAT OM FELLOW REFUGE EUROPE

In Fland, s of gay harassment and downright abe have also been rerd at refugee centers, acrdg to SETA, a natnwi lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr group.

"Steppg out of the closet may be hard to do, and not everyone is talkg to , " he the Netherlands, a Dutch human rights group reported earlier this month on regular abe of gays and lbians at a large mp that n hoe up to 3, 000 asylum seekers near the cy of Nijmegen. "Spokman Jan-Willem Anholts said COA do not keep rerds of plats of gay abe, but do have "protective" measur for people at risk. LGBT+ refuge experience challeng durg their asylum procr like homophobia and transphobia om their assigned asylum officers or se translators which end up sendg them right back to danger.

Thankfully, I was ntacted by Homosexuelle Selbsthilfe (HS), an LGBT+ rights anizatn that helps refuge like me Germany.