\u201cI always live two lives. The part I hide is eating me up.\u201d It could hardly be put more clearly. A queer young man who has had to conceal his identity his entire life describes how complicated it is. In his home country, he was never allowed to be himself, and now, suddenly, in his asylum interview, he has to lay it all out. And then, in the camp, he shares a shelter with eight other men\u2014men whose views on people like him are unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some facts: LGBTQ+ people in the camp are among the most likely to be traumatized. Nearly all have experienced sexual violence, many have been tortured or fallen victim to human trafficking, and every single one has lived a life where they had to hide who they truly are. Yet, they are not officially recognized as particularly vulnerable. That means there are no safe houses for them in the camp, no additional protection. To give an idea: the rate of sexual violence experienced by gay men is three times higher than that of other people in similar situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they all come from countries where being LGBTQ+ is criminalized, it is often hard for them to believe that it is legal in Greece. When you\u2019ve spent your entire life fearing the state, the police, and even other people, it is incredibly difficult to suddenly trust that you can be open. \u201cI have always felt it is not okay to talk about it. That is dangerous.\u201d<\/em> But here, openness is required. Without it, especially if you come from a so-called \u201csafe country,\u201d you have almost no chance of being granted refugee status. A \u201csafe country\u201d is a nation not officially recognized as dangerous, meaning you must present an exceptionally strong and deeply personal case to receive asylum. And for people who have spent their lives making themselves invisible, revealing who they truly are is incredibly difficult. \u201cOne man told me that he only realized here that he wasn\u2019t the only gay person in the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But the problems don\u2019t stop there. Being placed in a container with eight strangers is difficult for anyone. I caught a glimpse of it yesterday. The \u201chouses\u201d\u2014essentially containers\u2014are dark, bare, far from clean, and much too small for eight or more people who don\u2019t know each other. Imagine having to flee from the Netherlands, ending up in a camp, being crammed into a container with seven strangers. It\u2019s cold, dirty, there\u2019s not enough food, you have no money, and you are at the mercy of a system that does not see you as a person. You can be moved at any moment, you must wait endlessly with no idea when things will change. That alone is enough to drive anyone into depression. Add to that the fact that you\u2019ve survived an exhausting and dangerous journey, endured unimaginable hardships, and then you find yourself in a container where you cannot, and do not dare, to be yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maaike and I dream of a safe house for this group. \u201cIf they could live in the city, finally have a space where they can be themselves, it would change everything.\u201d<\/em> Because no one should have to defend themselves against the idea that they are a monster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there violence against them in the camp? Yes. As in any overcrowded, hopeless environment, tensions occasionally rise. Some groups are more vulnerable than others. That does not mean that everyone is homophobic. It also does not mean that everyone is violent or criminal. It is, in fact, a miracle that there isn\u2019t more violence in these conditions. That people, desperate from waiting so long, don\u2019t all turn to self-harm or reckless behavior. What strikes me time and again is how kind people are. How you can walk through the camp and see everyone maintaining the illusion of normalcy\u2014because otherwise, it would be unbearable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You cannot constantly think \u201cOh, how awful,\u201d<\/em> or zoom out to the global refugee crisis, because then the sheer scale of it will paralyze you. And so, both the residents and the organizations do their best to make the situation work<\/em>. But make no mistake: making the best of it<\/em> does not mean it is good<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are the edges of civilization\u2014this is where it stops. And yet, even here, in a situation that has nothing to do with civilization, people hold on to their humanity. And that, every single time, is nothing short of a miracle. It is a reminder that refugees should not be seen as mere victims, as one-dimensional identities, but simply as people. People who have the same right to a place in the sun as you and me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid<\/a> \u201cI always live two lives. The part I hide is eating me up.\u201d It could hardly be put more clearly. A queer young man who has had to conceal his identity his entire life describes how complicated it is. In his home country, he was never allowed to be himself, and now, suddenly, in his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[68,70,29,67,40,63,64,73,71,74,62,72,23,75,66],"news-category":[37,45,77,76,79,78],"class_list":["post-2234","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-asylum-seekers","tag-crisis-response","tag-fenix-legal-aid","tag-grassroots-initiatives","tag-human-rights","tag-humanitarian-aid","tag-legal-aid","tag-lgbtq-protection","tag-lgbtq-refugees","tag-lgbtq-trauma","tag-migration","tag-queer-rights","tag-refugee-crisis","tag-safe-houses","tag-social-justice","news-category-human-rights","news-category-humanitarian-aid","news-category-lgbtq-advocacy","news-category-refugee-rights-asylum","news-category-safe-spaces-protection","news-category-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\n
Haella Stichting<\/a>
<\/a>Maaike Vledder (she\/her)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"