During last year’s spring, International Support – Human Rights and Large Movements APS decided to join forces and combine their expertise. The goal was to raise awareness of Kenyan LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum-seekers community with a campaign addressed at the general public and the political decision-makers.
Partnership and Roles
Committed for more than 10 years to the protection of Kenyan LGBTQ+ refugees, International Support – Human Rights is an organization that, starting from 2018 with the help of international partners and their pressures, achieved several resettlements.
The association has always worked closely with UNHCR to push the UN agency to implement policies which could guarantee a safer environment for LGBTQ+ community inside their camps. International Support – Human Rights also facilitated the adoption of a 2021 European Parliament Resolution by working as an intermediary between the lawmakers and the vulnerable category of asylum-seekers. With this measure, European countries committed to supporting Kenya in improving the hospitality conditions inside two of the biggest refugee camps in Africa.
Moreover, International Support has been at the forefront during emergencies. For example, in a 2021 fire that cost the life of an LGBTQ+ refugee, the organization sent rescues and requested specific investigations.
Large Movements APS decided to collaborate given its much wider mission to create an ever-growing and solidifying network of associations, united by a similar modus operandi to promote a long-needed shift in the narration regarding international cooperation and social inclusion. Such like-minded methodology also concerns the sharing of the best practices developed on-site by other associations to learn important lessons about how to realize projects with an increasing social impact.
Furthermore, since one of our long-term objectives is to enhance dialogue between institutions and those directly affected by migratory policies to draft laws and projects which effectively take into consideration the needs of such communities, International Support – Human Rights’s experience is paramount in our team’s training and growth.
Conversely, Large Movements APS immediately provided the partnership with its competencies relating to infotainment and project-making to create an advocacy strategy as innovative and creative as possible.
Ist Phase: Research and Analysis
Thanks to our joint efforts, in this last year we successfully:
- Analysed international legislation regarding this subject;
- Gathered information on the current situation of the Kenyan LGBTQ+ community by interviewing the various actors involved (UNHCR personnel, on-site NGOs, LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum-seekers, investigative journalists working in Kenya, and Kenyan police);
- Collected sufficient proof to detail LGBTQ+s refugees and asylum seekers’ stories concerning their endured violations of human rights.
This first phase resulted in the following points.
Legislative Framework
As mentioned above, we collected evidence and material that confirm the poor protection of the LGBTQ+ community residing in Kakuma camp. Subsequently, it is possible to affirm that there is a lack of protection towards this category of vulnerable people. While LGBTQ+ refugees are routinely subject to violence and attacks; in particular, trans people, lesbian women and their children, queer disabled people are exposed to abuse.
These represent clear violations of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and other conventions ratified by Kenya. All of these recognize equal and inalienable rights for everyone, deriving from their human dignity. Additionally, to further grasp the seriousness of the situation, it is useful to mention some articles and Conventions enshrining fundamental principles that the country of Kenya has accepted as universal:
- Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provide that no one shall be subject to torture and/or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishments.
- The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) establishes norms and principles to eliminate discrimination of all forms against women, both in private and in public life. Furthermore, the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes children’s fundamental rights, including the right to life, health, education and free expression;
- The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights contracted by Kenya as a member State of the Organization of African Unity. This document recognizes that: i) fundamental human rights derive from human actions; ii) their respect is paramount to guarantee a decent life; iii) international protection is an essential instrument for the equal and effective enjoyment of these rights. The Charter reiterates the respect of each signatory State to every human right and freedom’s basic principles included in Declarations, Charters and other measures adopted by the Organization of African Unity, the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations.
- Article 2 of the Charter mentioned above also asserts that: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms outlined in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Following UNHCR Guidelines on the definition of Social Group, it could also be possible to include sexual orientation and gender identity – nonetheless, the Article appears clear in any way.
- Article 7 of the same Charter also establishes that: “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.”
Numerous other legal norms relating to this kind of advocacy could be mentioned, however, these few lines alone can be considered sufficient to assert the existence of a universal principle according to which the life of LGBTQ+ individuals in Kenya ought to be protected in the same way the local and refugee population is.
Evidence from the territory
The gathered testimonies prove that repeated and systemic violence has been perpetuated against the LGBTQ+ community staying in Kenyan refugee camps. Specifically, the victims – Kenya-residing LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum-seekers – reported:
- Physical assaults (with machetes, knives, rocks and sticks);
- Uncountable homicidal attempts through poisoning and fires – even during the night;
- Sexual assaults against defenceless women and minors;
- Death threats, harassment and verbal assaults;
- Being impeded access to water, following the WHO – World Food Programme foodstuff distribution’s budget cuts;
- Children of homosexual parents being denied access to schools (a clear violation of their right to education);
- Lack of free access to the labour market (or termination if the homosexuality or the gender identity of those involved is discovered after being hired) related to the social stigma existing in Kenya. All of this forces people to turn to prostitution to survive – pay rent, eat every day and have access to basic health services;
- Lack of legal persecution against assaulters of LGBTQ+ people by the police. This forces many brave victims who sued their offenders to live in fear of new assaults and/or retaliation;
- Lack of real psychological support, notwithstanding the high rates of suicides and suicide attempts. More than 200 of those interviewed admitted that they had thought about suicide because of the inflicted trauma;
- Difficulty in getting medical care because of homophobic healthcare personnel who refuses to visit certain patients;
- Lack of financial coverage for health costs and hospital camp trips. Notwithstanding the immense economic burden, these costs are covered by the refugees themselves;
- Arbitrary arrests and detentions in overcrowded jails that do not respect human dignity;
- Brutal beatings and tortures perpetuated by the authorities;
- Police blackmailing and the request of bribes;
- Telephone confiscation without any warrant to monitor LGBTQ+ people’s social media activity and contacts. This is made to control the spread of information regarding Kenyan treatment towards members of the LGBTQ+ community;
- Being threatened by the police to be included in RSD’s blacklist – managed directly by the Kenyan government – in case they report the harassment and blackmailing perpetuated by the police while keeping the refugees under custody. RSD (Refugee Status Determination) for Resettlement. RSD is a process through which State authorities verify whether a person satisfies the criteria to be considered a refugee under the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. Resettlement is a permanent solution for the refugees who cannot go back to their original country or continue to live safely in the country where they sought refuge.
From the evidence collected until now, it has also emerged that some members of the Kenya UNHCR staff are directly involved in illegal practices and that the Agency itself – fully aware of the situation since LGBTQ+ guests in their camp report each and every assault operated by the staff – is silent in front of these crimes.
IInd Phase: Action
Starting from its creation, International Support – Human Rights created a network with members of the European Parliament, who, during the 19 September 2021 plenary session, presented a resolution aimed at supporting and protecting refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya’s camps.
Action n. 1
Leveraging on such a resolution proposal, this partnership is pushing the European Union to respect its commitments and to implement practical actions aiming at (i) increasing the resettlements of LGBTQ+ people in Kenya; (ii) improving the living conditions of these migrants in Kenyan territory by calling on everyone to respect their role.
Action n. 2
To fully comprehend the traumatic reality lived by these refugees every day, Large Movements APS realized video interviews with victims who were assaulted and who risked their lives. In addition, portfolios that described each interviewee’s life history have been written to ease their resettlements. These materials have been sent to members of European institutions who affirmed their will to pursue further action regarding this cause.
Respecting the spread of understandable information – a fundamental point of our original mission, Large Movement APS also published several reports on this theme on its website. These documents were modified by removing the most sensitive information and/or the representation of the roughest acts of violence inflicted.
Action n.3
Large Movement APS and International Support – Human Rights created a regularly-updated database that collects the data of those who are waiting for resettlement. To order the individual situations according to a seriousness criterion, this database distinguishes between those who already conducted the RSD process and those who have not. This is done to facilitate the distribution and resettlement of this category of people.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not been possible to resettle the most vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers in safer countries that do not criminalize sexual orientation and gender identity. Therefore, this enormous cooperative work has yet to achieve practical results.
Action n.4
The partnership has created a portfolio that gathers all the material and has sent it to:
- Members of European Institutions who already collaborated with International Support – Human Rights;
- Members of the US Congress distinguished for their interest in the cause;
- Third-sector associations and NGOs that operate in Western countries – and, hence, are not subject to any obligation of governmental authorization to work in Kenya;
- UN and UNCHR employees already in contact with the two associations.
This massive action aims to boost the involvement of those who, depending on their role, may improve these people’s situation both in the medium and in the long term.
IVth Phase: Prospects
As Uganda recently adopted the so-called anti-gay bill, the international community’s support for refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya must increase. Indeed, other than being the first destination country of those who flee South Sudan, Eritrea and Uganda, Kenya is also one of the few countries which theoretically recognize the possibility to ask for refugee status on a sexual orientation basis. That is why migratory pressure in the country will keep growing unforeseeably.
Therefore, Large Movements APS and International Support – Human Rights are working on new projects aiming at:
- Raising awareness on the theme on a European level as a way to push European governments to authorize LGBTQ+ people to be resettled within their countries.
- Creating an institutional panel between funders (European Union and United States) and the fund’s receivers (Kenyan government and UNHCR) that tries to find ultimate solutions for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers.
Although the creation of this panel has yet to concretize, thanks to the partnership and cooperation with several other associations, it is possible to point out the fundamental requests that we, as civil society, ought to demand from the international community – with particular reference to the EU and the US:
- Improving the allocation of funds destined for Kenya, for UNCHR humanitarian projects and their monitoring in the country. Kenya itself is taking numerous steps forward, particularly thanks to international support. However, funds are paramount and must be used conscientiously;
- Supporting and protecting external private donors. Notwithstanding that most donors remain anonymous; they play a great part in contributing to the management and distribution of food and other everyday expenses faced regularly by refugees;
- Improving the dialogue with UNHCR to find more effective solutions to guarantee the respect of human rights and a safer environment inside Kenyan refugees camps;
- Establishing a dialogue with the Kenyan government and the UNHCR using the European Union and other active pro-LGBTQ+ associations as intermediaries. As Kenya is a dynamic and ever-growing country open to social and legal improvements, such dialogue should, once and for all, bring about the abrogation of homophobic colonial laws;
- Guaranteeing access to Kenyan society for LGBTQ+ people by promoting a radical socio-cultural shift in the population – for example, pushing for a more inclusive management of the media. Currently, the media tend to defend homophobic propaganda making a mindset change more difficult;
- Improving access to education for children to end the social stigma and discrimination;
- Supporting women victims of rape and assault psychologically and sanitarily;
- Encouraging European and American countries to be more attentive towards the resettlement of LGBTQ+ people who repeatedly asked to be moved to safer countries without being listened to;
- Establishing a periodical resettlement mechanism by starting a fruitful dialogue with the EU in order to guarantee a minimum of 20 resettlements per year;
- Fostering the competencies of refugees by promoting university cooperation programmes which, other than guaranteeing their right to education, could facilitate the issuing of regular visas to get out from their country of origin;
- Requesting the UN to: (i) investigate thoroughly UNCHR personnel’s misbehaviour reported by refugee victims in the Kenyan camps; (ii) improve the monitoring of UNHCR personnel’s respect of the Rules of Conduct; (iii) take into consideration the complaints made by LGBTQ+ refugees; (iv) efficiently intervene in emergencies – such as the 2021 fire when rescues started only after the requests of International Support – Human Rights. Such behaviour is inexcusable as the UNCHR staff should be prepared to manage any kind of situation.
We are conscious that these passages require time and hard work before reaching a narrative shift that accepts vulnerable categories in the Western and the African world. However, it is paramount that our societies start paying more attention to the right to development and, generally, to all civil and political rights inherent to every human being. These people are not others nor secondary when it comes to respecting their economic, social and cultural rights. Instead, the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights must become a guarantee for the enjoyment of civil and political rights as well.
In a month like Pride, when rights not enjoyed by all in the same way (as our work on Kakuma and Kenya in general demonstrates) are claimed, we invite all of you to make these requests your own and help us increase the pressure on the various institutions involved by following and sharing the material on this issue that we spread on social media, and/or by taking part in the activities we will organize in the future.
Follow us to keep updated with the latest news!
If you liked the article Share us!
(Translated by Cristiano Diprima)
