A brief summary of the resolution presented in plenary on 12 September in support of LGBTQ+ refugees in Kenya.
For three years now International Support – Human Rights together with EveryOne Group and other activists and refugees have been waiting for real change, the living conditions in Kenya for the LGBTQ+ community are very complex.
I will not mention intersex people in this paper because there have never been any reported intersex refugees.
Over the past three years, in addition to meticulously documenting all the violence suffered by refugees, we have tried several times to urge the government and relevant agencies to secure vulnerable people, but with little success. As stated in the resolution, after the Covid-19 pandemic, violence within the camp and brutal actions against LGBTQ+ people have increased significantly.
To date, 4 fires have been reported, as well as beatings, widespread violence and rape. There are also reports of extortion inside Kakuma camp.
The Kakuma camp hosts many people from neighbouring countries, who have been victims of violence and instability in their home countries and seek a safe haven in the camp. In particular, for many years it has served as a refuge for LGBTQ+ people coming from countries such as Uganda, where homophobia is widespread and anti-gay laws do not allow them to have a normal life. As ILGA points out, half of the countries in the world where homosexuality is outlawed are in Africa. In Uganda, as in other countries such as Nigeria, being gay, lesbian or transgender carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison. Only 22 out of 54 countries in Africa have legalised homosexuality.
The persecution of gays often takes place on political and religious grounds. The laws still in force today often date back to colonial times. In Africa it is often said that “homosexuality is not African‘, to emphasise that it was imported by the colonists.
Kenya is one of the most tolerant countries, so the Kakuma camp has served as a refuge for many members of the LGBTQ+ community, mostly from Congo, Uganda and Burundi, who risk imprisonment, persecution and sometimes even death in their countries of origin.
But anti-gay laws in Kenya, even if silent, are still in place, and restrictions and homophobia is strong and facilitated by a harmful narrative that tends to marginalise homosexual people from the social context.
However, to date, in Kakuma, the temporary living circumstances for these people awaiting resettlement have changed, as there is no mechanism in place to allow them to obtain a change or review and many remain stuck for years in limbo within the camp for years.
As the members of parliament at the Strasbourg conference repeatedly reminded us, the situations in which these people are stagnating in the camps are nothing short of shocking. The housing is substandard, the roads are bad, there is a lack of essential services and the risk of diseases such as malaria and cholera is very high.
The camp is no longer in a sustainable situation. After the advent of the Trump administration many funds were cut and Obama’s plan that incentivised solidarity from private philanthropists was blocked, even the World Food Plan in 2018 had to cease supplies for food or at least in some cases halve the supplies. Thus in a short time resources dropped dramatically.
The Kenyan government has tried several times in recent years to close the Kakuma camp, however various alternative solutions have been pursued. While efforts will be made to problem, it is essential that protection for these refugees and asylum seekers can be guaranteed.
The issue of camp closures is still a very sensitive one to deal with and certainly creates a worrying scenario.
Mr Sean Kelly says that it is important that human rights are respected to avoid a humanitarian disaster, it is very important to follow criteria for closure that do not harm the rights of those who have been housed for years. After an ultimatum from the Kenyan government, he committed to closing the camps by 22 June 2022 and plans to send the refugees back to their countries of origin.
However, this would not be possible for the LGBTQ+ community who have fled their lands because of persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This is also why over the coming months we want to ask the European Union and its partners to find effective solutions for the most vulnerable population in the camps.
Reinforcing resettlement and giving them access to care and safe housing should they remain in Kenya. It will also be necessary to consider that the closure of the camps will lead to difficult monitoring of violence directed at LGBTQ+ people who remain in Nairobi. For this reason the government should work to ensure that the obsolete discriminatory laws are cancelled or at least weakened. The aim is certainly to address the causes of these displacements in order to prevent crises in the countries of origin and try to limit conflict and discrimination.
Europe must act as a mediator by promoting a dialogue on the continent, cooperation between Kenya and neighbouring countries must be strengthened, on humanitarian security and development situations. The European Union has earmarked €14 million of funding to Kenya in recent years, in particular to assist refugees.
Between 2012 and 2019, 120 million in humanitarian aid went to Kenya. In 2013 the EU supported women and girls against gender discrimination and these funds also included LGBTQ people. 50,000 should have arrived in October 2019 specifically to support resettlement, but in reality, it was never clear where the funds had been invested, because as early as September 2019, resettlements had stopped and were not resumed until after the Covid-19 Pandemic. Currently, they are still blocked. The guys inform us that in recent months no one has had access to interviews. With the resettlement funds only 60 people between 2018/19 were resettled between Canada and the UK.
International Support – Human Rights has published a report that includes all the disbursements of the EUTF for Africa and analyses the reasons why LGBTQ+ people are often exempted from these important programmes.
One of the authors of the Resolution, Maria Arena, reminds us that the Kenyan authorities have an obligation to respect the freedom of opinion and expression of all people, but she also calls for refugees to be protected and their rights not trampled upon.
The resolution tabled on 12 September also calls on the European Union to shoulder its responsibility by granting humanitarian protection to these people when they ask for it and not leave them at the mercy of violence. The EU has an obligation to give a new future and safety to LGBTQ+ people.
Hilde Vautman in her intervention argues in favour of love and says that it is truly horrible that even today people have to be persecuted for their sexual orientation and gender identity. These phenomena must be stopped so that love can finally triumph.
The author of the resolution Pierrette Herzberger – Fofana sheds light on the disastrous conditions in the Kakuma camp in northern Kenya and also illustrates the complexity of the situation. The 2022 closure of a camp that was opened in 92′ is a huge challenge in itself, today there is still a generation of children born and raised in the camps with a more or less bleak future. The camp is situated in an area handicapped by climate change, food insecurity, and in past years has been exposed to disruption caused by heavy rains and for many days the refugees had to live in the mud in torrential rain. The toilets were totally destroyed. A few days ago, heavy rains made the slums impassable.
This does nothing than exacerbate the refugee situation. Pierrette congratulates Kenya and its work, in her opinion welcoming these people is fundamental, but she says it is also useful for the government to open an investigation into the massive attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and that European delegations on the ground should support the Kenyan government to protect vulnerable refugees. In particular children, who have no access to education. Sometimes the children of lesbian women have even been forced into prostitution because of the limited economic resources of women mothers who fled their country following family retaliation in Uganda, but also victims of harassment, abuse and corrective rape.
It is therefore necessary to remind the government that as long as the camps in Kakuma and Dabaad exist, the rights of all refugees must be guaranteed, and it is necessary to reflect on the responsibility of the European Union to support Kenya in receiving refugees. We must in this context act with commitment so that all refugees and in particular LGBTQ+ refugees are supported.
Elzbteta Kruk, author of the resolution, says that the United Nations has proposed to the Kenyan government that these people return to their countries of origin or go to neighbouring third countries or remain in Kenya. The European Union provides funds for Africa, the recently produced report on EUTF funds gives many details. The aim of the funds is to increase independence, autonomy, but also to liquidate the camp too quickly.
Tobias Pellicciari and Roberto Malini
Translation by
Vittoria Valentina di Gennaro
Email: digennarovittoria@gmail.com
International Support - Human Rights 