Yesterday, in the margins of the 59th Human Rights Council and ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment – and in the heart of Pride Month – we launched the International PRIDE Centre in Geneva. The event was energising and galvanising – primarily due to the powerful personal testimonies of Neema, one of the inspirations for establishing the PRIDE Centre; and Thomars, a member of our board.
Neema, a Congolese lesbian refugee now seeking asylum in Switzerland, narrated the realities of embodying multiple and intersecting marginalised identities: as an African, a refugee, a woman, a lesbian. Someone who was mistreated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for being a lesbian, who also had to flee during that country’s civil war. After fleeing the DRC, Neema ended up in Uganda – only for it to become one of the most dangerous places in the world to be queer. Often, we can think of people marginalised due to their sexuality, and refugees displaced by conflict, as separate categories. One of the purposes of the PRIDE Centre is to highlight the experiences of the
millions of people around the world who fit into both. Neema is now waiting for asylum in a processing centre in Switzerland while her partner remains in danger back home. She was emotional telling her story, and I felt lucky that she trusted us with it.
After Neema, we heard from Thomars, a trans Zimbabwean man and one of the PRIDE Centre’s board members. He told us how he had originally fled across the border from Zimbabwe because he thought South Africa – one of the first countries in the world to legalise gay marriage – would be safe. Though LGBTQI+ populations enjoy legal protections in the country, he said, the violence and discrimination faced by queer migrants and refugees remain rampant.
But we did not come across Neema and Thomars because of the violations they have faced as aresult of their sexual orientations or gender identities (SOGI). We met them because they have both become powerful advocates for their communities. Neema was an activist and an organiser in the LGBTQI+ and refugee community when she was in Uganda. She sought asylum in Switzerland after travelling there to conduct international advocacy around the need for greater protection for these
populations. Thomars is the founder of the Fruit Basket, an organisation providing safe haven to LGBTQI+ refugees in Johannesburg. The PRIDE Centre staff were lucky enough to visit their safehouse when we visited South Africa earlier this year – it is a beautiful, welcoming space for some
of the most at-risk people in the country.
Hearing about what Neema and Thomars had been able to achieve, despite the enormous odds stacked against them, was inspiring. And their tenacity it made it even more compelling when each of them implored those present– primarily members of NGOs, UN agencies and donors based in
Geneva – to use their significantly larger platforms to push for greater inclusion and protection of LGBTQI+ populations in humanitarian and refugee programming.
“If you hold a position of influence, whether you are a policy maker, an organisation leader, or someone with a platform, and you choose not to act – not to speak, not to challenge injustice – you are abusing your power through silence,” Thomars told us. “As someone working with LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers in SA, and as a refugee myself, I have seen firsthand how systematic violence is upheld – not just by
oppressive laws or bigoted individuals, but the passivity of those who claim to be allies; who have the means to make a difference, and yet do nothing.”
People seemed moved – by the courage of Neema and Thomars, by the call to action, and by the
urgency of the work. We came away reified in our purpose and mission. Despite the hostile global
climate, there is momentum behind this movement – and we are ready to meet it.