LGBT Refugee Workshop Held in Ankara

Kaos GL and Amnesty International recently collaborated in a workshop, held May 11 at the Amnesty International Ankara branch, about the problems facing LGBT refugees.

 

The workshop, which formed part of the 8th International Anti-Homophobia Meeting, was titled ‘the Problems Facing LGBT Refugees in Turkey and Suggested Solutions.’

Participating organisations included Kaos GL, Amnesty International, the Cyprus Refugee Rights Association, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), Positive Life Association (PYD), Refugee Solidarity Association, the Human Resource Development Foundation (İKGV), Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (HYD), Medecins Sans Frontieres, Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences Human Rights Center, and the Human Rights Agenda Association.

 

The coordinating lawyer for refugee rights at KAOL GL, Hayriye Kara, presented the results of her organisation’s visits to the satellite cities of Denizli, Isparta and Kayseri in April, where Kaos GL met around 80 LGBT asylum seekers and refugees. The main issues they raised were access to healthcare and the economic problems they faced. Kara explained that social pressures prevent refugees’ from accessing appopriate healthcare, with dire consequences including death.

Faija Deniz Paşa, a lawyer from the Cyprus Refugee Rights Association, touched on the general situation experienced by refugees in Cyprus, stating that the first asylum application accepted on the basis of sexual orientation dated back to 2007. However, a lesbian woman’s file in 2011 was rejected because she was married to a man in Iran, thus making her inelligible.

 

Amnesty International’s refugee rights coordinator, Volkan Görendağ evaluated the place of LGBT refugees in a Turkish law titled Foreigners and International Protection Law, published in April. In relation to the concept of “special needs” in the law, Görendağ said:”A priority is given to people with special need in terms of legal procedure, social procedure and access to appropriate healthcare. Almost all the LGBT refugees in Turkey face mental or physical violence and should be considered in this definition.”The participants debated their shared demands for secondary legislation, which highlighted the importance of proper enacment of the law.