BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
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“This is the truth: I don’t think I’d be here right now if it wasn’t for BeLonG To. I really wanted to kill myself, I just really wanted to die and get away from this. But then after talking to people from this service, encouraging me and constantly telling me that everything would be ok, and still giving me room to express myself all the time... They have helped me a lot, I have grown, and I have learned how to accept myself” (Gay male refugee)
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BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
Background: Following ten years of service provision to LGBT youth in Ireland, it became apparent within BeLonG To that the needs of LGBT asylum seeking and refugee young people were sufficiently complex to merit a dedicated project. BeLonG To spoke to partner LGBT organisations including Outhouse and the HSE Gay Men’s Health Service who corroborated and supported the need for a programme exclusively aimed at asylum seeking and refugee youth. Subsequently BeLonG To applied for funding and was successful; the project formally began in April 2011, co-financed by the European Commission under the European Refugee Fund (ERF) and supported by the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration in the Department of Justice and Equality, Pobal and the HSE. The project was focussed on LGBT asylum seekers and refugees under 30 years of age, in line with the EU definition of youth. The pilot project on LGBT asylum seekers and refugees is the first of its kind in Ireland, and one of the very few within the EU. The objective of the Project was to improve the safety and quality of life of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees, many of whom face isolation and vulnerability on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The project sought to develop best practice models for mainstreaming LGBT asylum seekers and refugees in the statutory and voluntary services which work with asylum seekers and refugees or LGBT communities. These best practices form the basis of this summary. Traditionally, BeLonG To’s engagement with LGBT asylum seekers and refugees was limited to direct support at individual level. In order to commence
a pilot which would meet the needs of service providers, it was necessary for BeLonG To to create new networks and relationships with organisations and agencies working with asylum seekers and refugees. BeLonG To thus established a Project Steering Committee composed of the representatives of key organisations working with both asylum seekers and refugees, and LGBT communities. The Steering Committee provided a forum for mutual learning between the asylum/refugee and LGBT groups, which traditionally had little interaction. The Steering Committee also provided BeLonG To with the contacts of key stakeholders with whom BeLonG To had not had a prior relationship. The Project Steering Committee was instrumental in giving feedback on, and endorsing, the modules developed by BeLonG To for training services. Twelve trainings were delivered to statutory and voluntary agencies working with asylum seeker and refugees, and three trainings were delivered to LGBT organisations. These trainings led to a variety of initiatives being taken by various services. Following the completion of the capacity building stage of the project, we have developed a number of resources to assist service providers, as well as this summary and it’s full report, and a short video on the experiences of our asylum seeking and refugee youth in Ireland. As the project comes to a close, we hope that these will go some way towards addressing the needs of service providers to better support LGBT asylum seekers and refugees.
BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
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BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
Best Practices: The project sought to improve the capacity and knowledge of statutory services, voluntary services and LGBT organisations by developing a best practice model for inter-agency work that would raise awareness within target services. The importance of this objective hinged on the fact that the short-term nature of the LGBT Asylum Seekers and Refugees Project (funded as a two-year pilot) necessitated that if sustainable change was to be established, services needed to be provided with approaches and tools to complement their own practice. Over the course of the project, several steps were identified that could provide a best-practice guide which could be adapted by services to ensure that awareness of the challenges faced by LGBT asylum seekers and refugees were mainstreamed in their own organisations. The Project Needs Analysis identified several areas where service providers lacked confidence in working with LGBT asylum seekers and refugees. Basing our approach around these gaps, BeLonG To spent significant time over the course of the project establishing a model which would be flexible, and could be built upon internally, following initial training from BeLonG To.
BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
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Findings of Needs Analysis: LGBT Asylum Seeking and Refugee Youth Responses: “I don’t think I’d be here right now if it wasn’t for BeLonG To. I really wanted to kill myself. But they have helped me a lot, I have grown, and I have learned how to accept myself” (Gay male refugee) Overall, young LGBT asylum seekers and refugees reported that safety and isolation were serious difficulties for them, but that supportive service providers could make an incredible difference. The findings were as follows: • Safety was a major issue in direct provision, especially due to shared bedrooms • Shared rooms also forced young people to go to extreme lengths to hide their identities, such as acting more masculine. • Negative attitudes to LGBT people were expressed by other residents. • There was concern that other residents could discover you were LGBT through lack of privacy about the types of medical tests and services you received. • Coming out to other residents was seen as rarely possible. • Young people interviewed came out to service providers who were seen as supportive, e.g. a psychologist at a reception centre and some staff in a homeless shelter.
• As a result of awareness about her sexual orientation, a young lesbian refugee living in a homeless shelter for young people experienced numerous incidents of sexual harassment, by five different perpetrators – these were reported and staff responded well. • The restrictions of life as an asylum seeker in direct provision were highlighted, one young person noted that, other than having food and shelter, the only positive aspect of direct provision was that one was free to leave the building. • Young people used a range of NGO services, and had largely positive experiences, although they were not always openly LGBT in these services. • Young people participated in BeLonG To’s LGBT youth services, which had a major positive impact, increasing comfort with their identities and helping them make friends. • Participation in other aspects of the LGBT community was seen as mixed, at times very helpful, at other times leading to experiences of racism, especially in commercial gay venues, e.g. differential treatment by bar doormen, and bar patrons assuming that Black gay men are sex workers and that Black women must be heterosexual. • Young people had mixed experiences of family support and were open about their identities to few or none of their family members.
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BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
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Findings of Needs Analysis: Service Providers Responses “Agencies do not know what they need to know. NGOs who work on asylum and refugee issues tend to know nothing about LGBT issues, and LGBT organisations tend to know nothing about asylum seekers and refugees’ issues.” - Service Provider. Service providers reported the following gaps: • Insufficient awareness of LGBT issues amongst mainstream services: prior to BeLonG To’s Project there was no programme specifically addressing LGBT asylum seekers & refugees issues, thus a marked lack of knowledge and capacity amongst these organisations. • Insufficient awareness and understanding of LGBT issues amongst relevant government Officials. • Lack of training on LGBT issues amongst professionals working with asylum seekers and refugees, including legal practitioners, case workers, decision makers, interpreters and privatised DP staff. • Interpreters are often from the same region as the asylum seeker, and issues regarding the use of sensitive terminology and confidentiality arise. • Lack of sufficient early legal advice prior to casework. • Lack of sufficient protection of LGBT people living in Direct Provision accommodation. • Lack of empirical evidence on LGBT asylum seeker and refugees issues.
• Lack of resources to address the needs of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees – including budget constraints and human resource issues. • Absence of awareness-raising work amongst asylum seeking and refugee communities on sexual orientation and gender identity in their own cultures. • Though a different demographic, service providers highlighted the fact that LGBT migrants face many of the same challenges as asylum seekers and refugees.
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BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
A. Linking with Other Service Providers For asylum and refugee organisations and services, linking with LGBT groups will assist in ensuring an LGBT inclusive approach. LGBT organisations could be consulted or involved in various programmatic aspects, including policy consultation, campaigning, advocacy and health awareness. For LGBT organisations, including a migrant focus in programmes and community events would greatly alleviate the sense of isolation many young LGBT asylum seekers and refugees feel. Familiarity with other services will also allow smooth referral of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees to appropriate services where possible.
B. Consulting LGBT Asylum Seeking and Refugee Youth The youth workers in BeLonG To can assist any service to consult with LGBT asylum seeking and refugee youth on aspects of their practice or programme endeavours. By linking with BeLonG To, organisations can mainstream a cohort of asylum seekers and refugees who are often invisible in broader awareness raising initiatives. An example of good practice in this area was the recent mission by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, to Dublin in October 2012. During the meetings held between the High Commissioner and persons of concern, the UNHCR Ireland Office ensured that the High Commissioner met with LGBT asylum seekers and refugees. While this entailed additional logistical arrangements on UNHCR’s part, it demonstrated a keen awareness of the importance of this group and the sensitivities involved. The fact that the UN High Commissioner made time to listen to the details of their situation imbued the young people with greater confidence.
BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
C. On-line and In-Service Many LGBT asylum seeking and refugee youth are painfully isolated and marginalised in service provision. They are uncomfortable coming out to service providers and fear that their LGBT identity may not be welcome. This is often a result of traumatic experiences in countries of origin. In order to assist LGBT asylum seeking and refugee young people to feel safe and welcomed in services, the built environment is very important. Placing LGBT inclusive posters in your service is a big step – many of the young people we work with reported that seeing an LGBT poster in services they frequented made a big difference to their sense of safety and self-esteem. Having outreach cards and information flyers for LGBT services available in your offices is very important. Where young people had been afraid to or unable to search for gay services on the internet, many found BeLonG To by picking up the LGBT Asylum Seekers and Refugee Project outreach cards. LGBT inclusive text on websites, and links to BeLonG To and LGBT services sends a strong signal that LGBT asylum seekers and refugees are supported and welcomed in migrant services. Likewise, LGBT Services should ensure that information flyers for migrant organisations are readily available in their services. These should contain information on both legal advice organisations and broader support. Links to asylum and refugee organisations should be carried on websites, alongside text and graphics which are inclusive of asylum seekers and refugees. The
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mainstream and gay media can also play a part in mainstreaming the voices of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees. Lastly, staff should have access where possible to LGBT and diversity training. Where staff has been trained, their level of comfort in working with LGBT asylum seekers and refugees has increased. Positive developments have been undertaken, including staff developing codes of conduct for working with LGBT asylum seekers and refugees D. Address Homophobic Incidents if they occur. Having a policy on LGBT asylum seekers and refugees can assist staff in addressing any cases of homophobic discrimination they encounter in service provision. Homophobic discrimination can often occur amongst asylum seekers and refugees, and needs to be addressed firmly by management. Staff should monitor and record any incident of homophobic discrimination, including bullying, and address these incidents accordingly (for further information on combating homophobic bullying see BeLonG To’s website).
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BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members” – Gandhi.
Conclusion: Ensuring the protection and integration of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees in Ireland is all of our responsibilities. LGBT asylum seekers and refugees have been persecuted, marginalized and isolated for far too long. In BeLonG To we found this project to be a valuable initial platform for raising awareness on the situation of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees and enhancing the capacity of organisations to welcome and support them. This project has been a process of mutual learning, between ourselves, young LBGT asylum seekers and refugees, and our partner organisations. We look forward to strengthening our relationships with statutory and voluntary organisations that work with asylum seekers and refugees. We are also committed to working hard to offer the best possible support to young LGBT asylum seekers and refugees. We hope to live up to the words of this young participant in the project.
BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project
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“I have framed an outreach card for the LGBT Asylum Seekers and Refugees Project and put it on my living room wall. For me, finding that card was the first moment in Ireland when I realized that I was going to be OK, that there were people who would accept me and that I had found a home.�
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BeLonG To. LGBT Asylum Seekers & Refugees Project