UNHCR publishes a new briefing note on LGBTIQ+ refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya
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| Rainbow over Kakuma. |
The briefing note provides an overview of UNHCR Kenya’s efforts to improve the overall protection environment for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) refugees in Kenya.
UNHCR note that there are currently some 800 refugees in Kenya. (Our international network covers several hundred of them). The organization notes that the Kenyan government is currently developing refugee regulations to guide the implementation of the Refugees Act of 2021. UNHCR are trying to minimize the impact of provisions that may reduce protection space for LGBTIQ+ refugees.
Homophobia and transphobia in Kenya
Keep in mind that although Kenya is not like Uganda when it comes to LGBTIQ persecution, their laws are both homophobic and transphobic. Same-sex relations remain criminalized under the Kenyan Penal Code.
In February 2023, the Supreme Court of Kenya delivered a landmark ruling ensuring the right to association for LGBTIQ+ organizations. However, as UNHCR points out, the publicity this ruling "led to widespread anti-LGBTIQ+ rhetoric in public statements by officials as well as on social media."
In 2023 Kenya stopped allowing asylum claims to be lodged on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. UNHCR writes:
"Additionally, in the past asylum-seekers with claims of this nature were normally recognised as refugees; however, since 2021 UNHCR has observed that such claims have been increasingly kept on hold without a decision being made."These ambiguous policies put UNHCR in a tough spot when it comes to protecting the queer refugees in Kenya and in the Kakuma camp.
Asylum-seekers in Kenya
There are currently nearly 150,000 asylum-seekers whose refugee status has not yet been determined, UNHCR writes, including many with an LGBTQ profile.
LGBTQ-refugees in the Kakuma and Dadaab camps continue to have access to services provided at hospitals and clinics operated by UNHCR’s partners, UNHCR says.
Security
The UNHCR briefing does mention the homophobic and transphobic harassment that takes place in the Kakuma camp:
"In response to reports of security incidents involving LGBTIQ+ refugees in Kakuma, police patrols and the presence of community volunteers have been increased where needed to help mitigate risks, including in the Block 13 area of the camp."Block 13 is an area dedicated to LGBTQ refugees, but there are LGBTQ encampment elsewhere in the camp, including the one of Nakafeero and her friends (in Block 6). From what our friends in the camp tells us, one of the problems is harassment by the police, so using the police to reduce such incidents sounds problematic to us.
Violence, rape and even murders are far too common for the Kakuma camp to be a safe place for queer and transgender people.
Resettlement
The brief also looks at resettlement policies:
"While being LGBTIQ+ is not a specific criterion for resettlement, the vulnerabilities and protection needs of some LGBTIQ+ refugees can be addressed through resettlement to the extent possible, keeping in mind the limited number of places allocated by States for refugees in Kenya and around the world."The fact is, as UNHCR admits, that the number of refugees that are resettled is very small. Moreover, resettlement under the auspices of UNHCR is available only to persons who have been formally recognized as refugees, and the Kenyan government now seems to want to deny LGBTQ refugees this status.
This is party why it is so important to give the refugees the kind of support that makes their lives tolerable. For many this feels like a life long imprisonment.
Download PDF of Briefing Note LGBTIQ+ Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Kenya January 2024
