LGBTI and Gender-Diverse Persons in Forced Displacement

Introduction

Severe persecution from State and non-State actors forces many LGBTI and gender-diverse persons to flee their homes in search of a safe environment in which they can live authentically and fully exercise their rights. Among the 100 million people who are currently forcibly displaced worldwide, LGBTI and gender-diverse migrants who are recognized refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced and/or stateless are among the most vulnerable and marginalized people on the move today.

Although there is not yet accurate data on the number of LGBTI and gender-diverse persons forcibly displaced globally, many reside in countries that do not substantively provide strong human rights protections for LGBTI and gender-diverse persons, or that actively discriminate against them. The number of LGBTI and gender-diverse people in forced displacement is likely to increase in coming years, due to factors such as adverse climate impacts and intensifying socioeconomic fragility.

Reproduction of Human Rights Violations in Displacement Settings

LGBTI and gender-diverse persons who are forcibly displaced or migrating in humanitarian contexts frequently experience multiple, intersecting forms of violence, discrimination, and abuse - both in their countries of origin or place of habitual residence, as well as in the locations where they seek asylum.

The structural vulnerabilities that LGBTI and gender-diverse persons already face due to judgment of their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics (SOGIESC) are frequently intensified by their status as migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. They may be fleeing persecution linked specifically to their real or perceived SOGIESC, or they be seeking safety from other persecutory factors, such as their ethnicity, nationality, political opinions or faith. Regardless, they may find themselves at the intersection of overlapping forms of social stigma and institutionalized exclusion, and they often do not have access to minimal protection from the patterns of violence that compelled them to seek safety in the first place and that are often reproduced in displacement settings.

Nearly 2/3 of the world’s forcibly displaced people have not crossed a national border in their search for safety. LGBTI and gender-diverse people who are internally displaced in countries that criminalize consensual same-sex relations and/or diverse gender identities are rarely systematically acknowledged and addressed by institutions that support internally displaced persons, most typically in fragile or conflict-affected areas. LGBTI and gender-diverse people who are internally displaced may not have recourse to support offered by organizations whose mandates focus primarily on supporting asylum seekers arriving from other countries.

Many LGBTI and gender-diverse persons in forced displacement who do cross a national border arrive in countries where they encounter similar or higher risks of violence, as well as xenophobia, racism, misogyny, socioeconomic marginalization, hostility against LGBTI and gender-diverse disabled persons and isolation from traditional support networks. At all stages of their displacement journey, they may be at particular risk of violence, abuse and exploitation from numerous actors, including though not limited to immigration and security authorities, traffickers, and smugglers, as well as from fellow displaced people and not infrequently from actors who are responsible for their security and wellbeing upon arrival in asylum locations.

Compounded Exclusion and Vulnerabilities

Abuse of LGBTI and gender-diverse displaced people can take the form of gender-based violence, as well as of exclusion from essential services, such as safe and appropriate accommodation, safe access to the distribution of food and essential non-food items, medical care and mental health and psychosocial services (including but not limited to sexual and reproductive health services and, where applicable, torture rehabilitation treatment), financial services and livelihoods support. Structural exclusion from the legal labour market exposes them to increased vulnerability, exploitation and pressure to participate in high-risk livelihoods. They frequently face continued discrimination and abuse from other displaced persons and may be excluded from decision-making structures that are established to serve forcibly displaced communities at large. And, while these conditions existed prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are documented to have worsened for LGBTI and gender-diverse forcibly displaced people during the pandemic.

Moreover, such stigmatization creates highly unsafe conditions for many LGBTI and gender-diverse persons to disclose their SOGIESC to authorities immediately upon their arrival in an asylum location, particularly if displaced applicants are not informed that they can apply for protected status on the grounds of a well-founded fear of persecution which is linked to their real or perceived SOGIESC. Unfortunately, even though persecution on the basis of one’s real or perceived SOGIESC is considered a potential ground for claiming asylum according to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol, a LGBTI or gender-diverse applicant’s late disclosure of their SOGIESC as a persecution driver frequently adversely impacts the outcomes of their asylum claims, particularly in parts of the world where asylum credibility proceedings have become more restrictive for all forcibly displaced people. And in situations where family composition is defined according solely according to binary-gender and heterosexual norms, LGBTI and gender-diverse people on the move are often unable to exercise their right to family reunification.

Trans and gender-diverse refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced and stateless people are among migrants facing the highest risk of physical and emotional maltreatment, beatings, rape, torture and murder, because their visible gender expression is often perceived as a direct challenge to prevailing social norms in both countries of origin and asylum. Thus, a response they frequently encounter while seeking protection in what is hoped to be a safer environment is an effort to render them less visible.

• As noted in the Independent Expert’s report on the situations of trans and gender-diverse persons at large, gender-diverse and trans persons who seek recognition before the law are often victim to violence in health-care settings, such as forced psychiatric evaluations, unwanted surgeries, sterilization or other coercive medical procedures, often justified by discriminatory medical classifications.
• In asylum jurisdictions where legal gender recognition of trans and gender-diverse persons is not available for people who are undocumented, whose migration status is irregular or even for people who are recognized refugees, misgendering based on one’s sex assigned at birth is common and can create acutely harmful challenges for trans and gender-diverse people throughout their entire displacement experience.

The Need for Coalition Thinking and Cross-Sector Solidarity

LGBTI and gender-diverse persons in forced displacement simultaneously embody several of the most stigmatized characteristics of being human today – that of having a real or perceived SOGIESC which challenges prevailing social norms, and that of having a stigmatized immigration or nationality status. This makes them especially vulnerable to familial abuse, social discrimination, political scapegoating and institutional marginalization in both origin and asylum countries.

Yet, organizations that are orientated primarily towards upholding human rights may not be well equipped to pivot towards providing material humanitarian support, including on legal asylum matters. Conversely, humanitarian organizations with deep experience of assisting forcibly displaced people and migrants at large may not be equipped to implement a comprehensive understanding of the specific needs of LGBTI and gender-diverse persons in forced displacement. This has been observed among civil society, private sector as well as national and supranational State actors.

On this matter, the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity has been working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since the establishment of the Independent Expert’s mandate. This alliance includes undertaking UNHCR-facilitated missions to monitor the human rights of LGBTI and gender-diverse displaced people in host asylum countries, including those living in camps and collective reception centers; exchanging information, issuing joint statements, convening joint expert consultations, and providing strategic technical recommendations on the parameters of each UN entity’s engagement.

Moreover, the Independent Expert maintains constant, regular dialogue with States and regional authorities that request advice on how to specifically support LGBTI and gender-diverse displaced people. The Mandate is grateful for its close collaboration with academic experts and civil society organisations, including those led by formerly or currently displaced LGBTI and gender-diverse people, who help guide the contours of the Mandate’s work.

Supported by evidence obtained during country visits, extensive multi-stakeholder consultations and in-depth research, the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity maintains that stronger collaboration and coordination among all actors responsible for the protection of LGBTI and gender-diverse persons in forced displacement, including displaced LGBTI and gender-diverse people themselves, is necessary in order to uphold their human rights and to transform the vicious spiral of violence and discrimination which forces them to seek protection in the first place.

Thematic Reports

Furthermore, the human rights situations of LGBTI and gender-diverse forcibly displaced and stateless persons are addressed in the following reports:

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the human rights of LGBT persons (2020)
The Independent Expert’s July 2020 report to the UN General Assembly discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBT persons, communities and/or populations. The Independent Expert analyses the impact of the pandemic on social exclusion and violence, and the interaction with institutional drivers of stigma and discrimination. He also looks at measures adopted in the context of the pandemic aimed at persecuting LGBT persons or with indirect or unintended discriminatory effects. Good practices are also identified in the report.

Socio-cultural and economic inclusion (2019)
The Independent Expert's October 2019 report to the UN General Assembly takes a look at social, cultural and economic inclusion of LGBT persons. Addressing their social and economic rights is key to addressing violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The report discusses the dynamics of inclusion and presents conclusions and recommendations for moving forward.

Legal recognition of gender identity and depathologization (2018)
The Independent Expert's October 2018 report to the UN General Assembly examines the process of abandoning the classification of certain forms of gender as "pathologies". It clarifies the duty States have to respect, and promote respect of gender recognition as a component of identity. It also highlights some effective measures to ensure respect of gender identity and provides guidance to States on how to address violence and discrimination based on gender identity.

Diversity in humanity, humanity in diversity (2017)
The Independent Expert’s inaugural June 2017 presentation to the UN Human Rights Council elaborates his approach and methodology, provides an overview of the situation of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and identifies six underpinnings for the Mandate on protection from violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity:

• Decriminalization of consensual same-sex relations and of gender identity and expression
• Effective anti-discrimination measures
• Legal recognition of gender identity
• De-stigmatisation linked with depathologisation
• Sociocultural inclusion
• Education with empathy

UNHCR-IE SOGI Global Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for LGBTIQ+ People in Forced Displacement (2021)
In June 2021, the Independent Expert and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) co-convened the 2021 UNHCR-IE SOGI Global Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for LGBTIQ+ People in Forced Displacement, a month-long, multi-stakeholder consultation whose findings can be accessed below:

View the full Summary Conclusions of the 2021 UNHCR-IE SOGI Roundtable, including methodology, participants and recommendations to UN, State duty bearers and civil society stakeholders.

Statements

Forcibly displaced LGBT persons face major challenges in search of safe haven (2022)

In Ukraine, the protection of LGBTI and gender-diverse Refugees remains critical (2022)

UN Rights Experts Urge More Protection for LGBTI Refugees (2019)
This statement was issued in conjunction with the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection on the specific protection challenges of forcibly displaced LGBTI and gender-diverse people and includes recommendations for States and other duty bearers.

Press Releases

Global Roundtable charts joint action for protection of forcibly displaced LGBTIQ+ people (2021)

More concerted action needed to better protect LGBTIQ+ people forced from home (2021)

Relevant Country Visit Reports

Tunisia: A/HRC/50/27/Add.1 (2022)
Ukraine: A/HRC/44/53/Add.1 (2020)
Georgia: A/HRC/41/45/Add.1 (2019)
Mozambique: A/HRC/41/45/Add.2 (2019)
Argentina: A/HRC/38/43/Add.1 (2018)

Communications Specific to LGBTI and Gender-Diverse Persons in Forced Displacement – Allegations and States’ Replies

Netherlands, Separation of a LGBT-identified refugee and spouse from their children and intention to deport the parents and one child to unsafe country of origin, 28 July 2020 - Reply

Guatemala, State-sponsored hate crimes against LGBTI asylum seekers traveling en route to Mexico and the United States of America, 22 March 2019 - Reply

Kenya, Arbitrary detention, mistreatment and abuse of LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers in Kakuma Camp and elsewhere in Kenya, 21 September 2018

Other Actors, Arbitrary detention, mistreatment and abuse of LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers in Kakuma Camp and elsewhere in Kenya, 21 September 2018 - Reply

Search all communications and States' replies in the database.
Read about the communication procedure on the OHCHR webpage.

Links to Resources on LGBTI and Gender-Diverse Persons in Forced Displacement

UNHCR and IOM are the two main UN humanitarian entities responsible for the protection of forcibly displaced persons and for migration management, respectively.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), convened by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is the UN humanitarian inter-agency body responsible for managing humanitarian cluster response in emergencies. IASC Results Group 2 on “Accountability to Affected Populations” is the sub-team focused most directly on SOGIESC inclusion. OHCHR is represented here through its Humanitarian Action Emergency Response Section and by PSEA/SHA focal points.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC)

*OHCHR and the Independent Expert on protection from violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are not responsible for views expressed in guidelines, publications or websites of external organizations.