29/07/2024 | Writer: Kaos GL
Adana LGBTI+ Solidarity announced that M.E., a Syrian trans woman who was targeted on social media and deported, was murdered.
Adana LGBTI+ Solidarity stated that a refugee trans woman, who was targeted and deported after her HIV status was revealed on social media, was murdered. Adana LGBTI+ Solidarity made the following statement on social media:
"In Adana, a Syrian trans woman's private health information was shared without permission, and she was subjected to hate speech. In this case, her personal rights and privacy were violated. Trans woman M.E. was deported from Cilvegözü Border Gate after the incidents. Unfortunately, we learned that she lost her life 5 days ago. The definition of Turkey as a ‘safe country’ for LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers and refugees should be abandoned immediately.”
What happened?
On July 5, a Syrian trans woman was exposed on social media as living with HIV. Racist and HIV-phobic discourses targeting the refugee trans woman M.E. resulted in the decision to deport M.E.
LGBTI+ associations, student communities and organizations said the following after M.E’s deportation:
“Instead of the state and its institutions taking measures against these human rights violations, the unlawful decisions taken by the state violate human rights."
“Instrumentalization of anyone’s health status, refugee identity, sexual orientation, or gender identity in a way that exposes them to hate speech is unacceptable. When social media accounts claiming to be news sources generate hate speech by targeting these identities, they target not only individuals but also entire groups living with these identities. Transphobia, racism, and HIV phobia are not isolated incidents. Instead of taking necessary measures against human rights violations, the unlawful decisions taken by the state violate human rights. Health workers shared the health data of a refugee transgender woman with various news pages, and then Adana Provincial Directorate of Migration Management participated in this unlawful deportation and deported the person without waiting for the 7-day appeal period. Refugee rights are human rights! The right to health and access to health are the most fundamental human rights!”
“The decision is an intimidation for people living with HIV and all refugees; it is unacceptable. We do not accept this usurpation of rights experienced by the trans woman refugee and sex worker, and we will not give up holding all those responsible to account. The forced displacement, usurpation of access to rights, criminalization, and targeting of a refugee sex worker trans woman by the state and its branches are not isolated incidents. However, we will not give up for a moment in our struggle to end this unlawfulness, initiate judicial proceedings, ensure access to health, and achieve decriminalization and equality for all identities. Equal access to health is a right. The deliberate violation of this right by the state and its mechanisms causes those who are disproportionately affected by the situation, such as sex workers, LGBTIQA+ individuals, Kurds, Roma, migrants, and refugees, to be unable to access the right to health. No one’s right to access health can be hurdled.”
Tags: human rights, women
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