Berlin to Open LGBT Refugee Center
While some European nations have installed barbed-wire fences or threatened to confiscate valuables to deter refugees, Germany’s welcoming policies have made it something of a promised land for many asylum seekers fleeing violence in nations such as Syria and Afghanistan. But LGBT refugees, who thought they could be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity once in Europe, have continued to face persecution.
After hundreds of reports of violence against LGBT refugees, German gay rights organization Schwulenberatung Berlin is set to open a center specifically for LGBT asylum seekers, Reuters reports.
“We have heard a lot of stories about discrimination and crimes against LGBT people in the last two years,” Stephan Jäkel, Schwulenberatung’s manager of refugee affairs, told Reuters. “They were frightened and scared after being beaten or spat on, and one survived a murder attempt. We heard a lot of horrible stories.”
Nearly 100 instances of violence against LGBT refugees were reported to the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany between August and December 2015. The Berlin center will house roughly 125 LGBT refugees, although the Schwulenberatung organization estimates there are 3,500 LGBT asylum seekers in Berlin alone.
Although Germany does not recognize same-sex marriage, it is widely considered a gay-friendly nation. But LGBT refugees have found that the mind-sets and cultural norms of fellow refugees from countries where being gay can be a death sentence didn’t immediately change once they entered the European Union.
“I thought, I am in Europe now. In Germany, I should not have to hide anymore,” Rami Ktifan, a gay Syrian refugee living in Dresden, told The Washington Post. Once Ktifan revealed his sexual orientation, he was subjected to verbal and physical assault, including an attempt to burn his feet, while living in a refugee center.
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Attacks on LGBT refugees are not unique to Germany—asylum seekers in Amsterdam have experienced similar assaults in refugee centers. But as Germany welcomed more then 1 million refugees in 2015, these instances are more common and speak to the broader difficulties of immersing a large group of people into a foreign nation with widely different values.
While the LGBT center, which opens in March, will provide a safe space for some refugees, others are attempting to integrate the newcomers into German culture through media. Television series Marhaba (“hello” in Arabic) teaches refugees about German cultural norms, from avoiding late-night phone calls to treating women as equals. Newspapers are also sending messages to refugees about Germany’s values of equality.
“You must forget what you learned at home about what is right or wrong,” commentator Harald Martenstein wrote to refugees last year in the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. “You must accept the equality of women. You must learn that homosexuals and Jews are just like everyone else.”
Related stories on TakePart:
• Welcome to Germany: TV Show Teaches Refugees to Adapt to Life in Europe
• Online University Offers Free Education to Refugees
• Can Facebook’s New Initiative Help Curb Hate Speech in Europe?
Original article from TakePart
