INTERNATIONAL
LGBTQ Refugees Report
Violence at Kenyan Camp
A new report from Rainbow Railroad and ORAM details high levels of anti-LGBTQ discrimination at the
Kakuma Refugee Camp and a nearby KalobeyeiIntegrated Settlement.
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
LGBTQ refugees at the
Kakuma Refugee Camp
in Kenya are facing unprecedented
levels of anti-
LGBTQ violence and stigma, according
to a new report released on
October 20 by the international LGBTQ
advocacy group Rainbow Railroad
and Organization for Refuge,
Asylum, and Migration (ORAM).
According to the report, there
are approximately 350 LGBTQ and
intersex asylum seekers in the Kakuma
Refugee Camp and the Kalobeyei
Integrated Settlement. The
UNHCR, or the UN Refugee Agency,
oversees the Kakuma Refugee
Camp, which includes more than
100,000 refugees from South Sudan,
Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Burundi,
Ethiopia, and Uganda.
Findings from the report, which
was compiled in May of this year,
show that of the 58 queer respondents
surveyed from the Kakuma
Refugee Camp and the Kalobeyei
Integrated Settlement, 90 percent
have faced “verbal insults” or other
hateful rhetoric. Eighty-three percent
have been denied services at a
store, 55 percent have been banned
from participating in religious services,
and 88 percent of respondents
said the police refused to help
them due to their LGBTQ status.
One 26-year-old transgender
REUTERS/GORAN TOMASEVIC
individual at the camp reported
sexual abuse from a group of four
men living on their block. The person
was forced to have sex with a
woman and got “lectured… on the
need to get married and have children
of my own.”
“They left me traumatized,” the
person said, according to the report.
“Two days later they asked
the lady to come and stay with me
as my wife. That is when I escaped
from the block and moved to live
with a friend in an area far from
my allocated shelter. I did not report
the incident since I was afraid
the police would equally stigmatize
me for who I am.”
The violence has prompted demands
for more resources to help
expedite refugee cases and secure
additional healthcare, safety, and
employment protections.
“This much-needed report underscores
the challenges, dangers, and
complexities of life that LGBTQI+
refugees and asylum seekers face
in Kakuma Refugee Camp,” Steve
Roth, executive director of ORAM,
said in a written statement.
Earlier this year, two gay men
were burned in an alleged arson
attack on Block 13, which is a
known hub for LGBTQ individuals
in the Kakuma Refugee Camp.
According to the report, 41 percent
of respondents who live on Block
13 said that “relocation to a safer
place is a priority.”
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