They are persecuted and discriminated against in their home country because of their homosexuality and now hope to find protection in Germany. However, the authorities do not make it easy for many LGBT refugees.
Jouanna Haussoun has phoned all the law firms in question, but has got nowhere. None of the lawyers specialising in LGBT refugees are currently accepting new clients. At least one of them is putting off the social manager of the LSDV Berlin-Brandenburg to December. However, this date is too late for the gay Pakistani man whom Jouanna is supporting in his asylum proceedings. He has already received his deportation notice. The young man's last chance is now to appeal. This requires a competent lawyer, but the few that exist are hopelessly overworked.
Jouanna looks after around 30 queer refugees in the Berlin area for many months, supporting them with their asylum applications, trying to organise language courses and accommodation for them, helping them with social problems and guiding them through the bureaucratic jungle. Jouanna's part-time job is fully utilised with these tasks alone. But queer refugees from other parts of the country have also been seeking her help for a long time. It is mainly Arabic-speaking lesbians, gays and trans* people who come to her for legal advice on the asylum procedure. She has already conducted around 300 such consultations this year. "I already feel like an authority," says Jouanna, "I can barely manage to tackle the really existential cases and problems."
"At the moment, everyone is talking about Syria and hardly anyone is talking about Russia"
Sergiu Grimalschi , the migration officer at the Berlin AIDS service organisationhas long since reached the limits of its possibilities. Thanks to his good network, particularly in Eastern Europe, LGBT people from these countries in particular are hoping for support from him. His job is actually to look after HIV-positive refugees, but many others also get in touch with him. "At the moment, everyone is talking about Syria and hardly anyone is talking about Russia," says Sergiu. "However, the situation for gays and lesbians has not changed there." Many of the most active LGBT and HIV activists in Eastern Europe with whom he has worked in recent years have now moved abroad. Some have rented out their flats in Moscow to finance their exile in countries with a low cost of living, such as Thailand or India. Others are seeking asylum in the USA or even in Germany.
Together with colleagues from other organisations, Sergiu is currently trying to bring a Russian-Ukrainian activist couple to Germany. In neither of their home countries do they currently have the chance to live in peace, but are being harassed and even threatened with death. Their chances of being granted asylum in Germany are good. However, the authorities are currently completely overloaded. Applications like those of the activist couple and other queer refugees are currently going unprocessed. Instead, the focus is primarily on the mostly hopeless applications of asylum seekers from the Balkans and the initial reception of Syrian refugees.
For some asylum seekers, this period of uncertainty, which can last for years, can be life-threatening. This is the case for another of the 50 or so people Sergiu is currently looking after: Halim*, in his early 30s, graduated from college in the USA with top marks, studied at an elite German university and finally worked in the Moscow branch of a German company. Sergiu rightly describes Halim as a citizen of the world, but according to his passport he is still an Uzbek and as such, like all other migrants working in Russia, has to undergo regular medical checks. When, to his great surprise, he was diagnosed with Aids, he was immediately expelled from the country. Halim now lives in Berlin. He was temporarily seriously ill and could be treated in an HIV centre at the Auguste-Viktoria Hospital. Now, however, the asylum seeker is threatened with being transferred to the Mecklenburg province. This is according to the distribution formula of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. It is uncertain when Halim's application to be able to stay in Berlin because of the better medical care will be processed. Due to his illness, Halim's asylum application will most likely be granted. He will therefore be spared deportation to Uzbekistan, where homosexual offences are punishable by up to three years in prison.
"Such an attractive and polite woman" can never, ever be a lesbian
However, not all people who are subjected to repression in their home country because of their homosexuality are automatically granted asylum. It all depends on the so-called decision-makers. It is not always guaranteed that they are actually aware of the living situation of gays, lesbians and trans* people in their countries of origin. Moreover, they often first have to be convinced that the asylum seekers are actually lesbian, gay or trans*. Feminine gays have a comparatively easy time of it, says Sergiu from his experience. It is also helpful if the people in question have come out as LGBT activists in their home country and have perhaps even been publicly exposed on outing lists - as happened in Uganda, for example. But bearded, blokeish men who are not easily recognisable as gay? And those who have only been able to live out their gayness in secret and who are not used to talking openly about their sexuality?
"Some of the decision-makers have absolutely no idea what lesbian or gay life looks like today," says Sascha Hübner. The psychologist in the counselling team of the Munich Gay Culture and Communication Centre (SUB) is particularly committed to helping gay migrants there. He reports on the case of an Iranian lesbian who was to be sent back to her home country, where she was threatened with flogging and even the death penalty. For the decision-maker, "such an attractive and polite woman" could never be a lesbian.
For Syrian war refugees, for whom a simplified asylum procedure now applies, it is therefore very helpful and also relieving that they do not have to make being gay a reason for asylum, says Sascha. But regardless of which countries the asylum seekers come from, there are still plenty of obstacles to overcome before they actually arrive in Germany.
In the coming days, you will find out what life can be like for LGBT refugees in Germany - including in the community itself.
