01/08/2024 | Writer: Kaos GL
“Our friend’s health status, refugee identity, sexual orientation and gender identity were instrumentalised and targeted on social media and news channels, which led to her deportation and murder.”
Photograph: Serra Akcan / csgorselarsiv.org
The Pink Life LGBTI+ Solidarity Association has issued a statement regarding the case of M.E., a trans woman from Adana, whose HIV status was disclosed on social media. Following this disclosure, M.E. was deported to Syria, where she was subsequently murdered.
According to the association, M.E. was unlawfully deported after her health status was made public, an act they described as influenced by racist and HIV phobic targeting. The association expressed their sadness and anger over the death of M.E., citing the combined impact of transphobia, racism, and HIV phobia, and called attention to the violation of human rights in her case. The association underlined that M.E.’s experience illustrates how social media accounts claiming to be news sources can generate hate speech by targeting these identities, impacting not only individuals but entire groups.
The statement of the association is as follows:
“Our friend’s health status, refugee identity, sexual orientation and gender identity were instrumentalised and targeted on social media and news channels, which led to her deportation and murder. M.E.’s experience is an example of how social media accounts that claim to be news sources generate hate speech by targeting these identities, targeting not only individuals but also entire groups with these identities. It created fear and panic for refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey today, and reflected the extent of the consequences of hate news in its clearest form. The unauthorized disclosure of the health status of a person as ‘learned to be working as an escort in Adana’ and associating it with the person’s profession shows the severe consequences of the increasing hate speech. Those responsible for the deportation of our friend, who was deported as a result of unlawful decisions without waiting for the 7-day appeal period granted to individuals, whose patient privacy was not protected and who was murdered by disclosure, are clear.”
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.
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.”
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!”
Tags: human rights, health, hiv
