On Friday June 20th, I attended the Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) at the 59th UN Human Rights Council.The Independent Expert’s most recent report was on SOGI and forced displacement. The issues he raised were familiar: the significant number of displaced LGBTQI+ people globally; the enormous barriers they encounter in accessing protection; and the double bind they face as a result of increasing anti-LGBTQI+ sentiment, combined with restrictive migration policies, around the world. These are challenges that I have heard about over and over again from LGBTQI+ refugees, or those who work with them, in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, and Burundi (we also work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but have not yet travelled to or talked to any civil society organisations there). Hearing these same concerns acknowledged at the highest level of the UN was powerful.
The International PRIDE Centre team at the Human Rights Council, to attend the interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on SOGI (L-R: Michael Bruce, Clare Brown, Kate McGrane)
What I noticed almost immediately, however, is that none of those five countries that I have been hearing about were in the room. Nor, as far as I could see, were other hosts of the world’s largest displaced populations – such as Bangladesh, Turkey, or Iran. The absence of the main states affected by displacement, in a conversation about displacement, was telling but not surprising. As noted by the delegate for Cyprus, eight of the ten countries that host the greatest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the world still criminalise same sex relations.
Some of the states who were in the room do host significant numbers of refugees, or people in transit. Germany, with 2.6 million refugees, is the third largest host of refugees in the world. Mexico has emerged as a key destination and transit country, with more than 800,000 refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless persons currently inside its borders. South Africa is host to 250,000 displaced people – and is a popular destination for queer refugees in particular, as the African country with the most progressive laws on same sex relationships. The delegates from each of these countries welcomed the report, and spoke about what they have done to promote better inclusion of LGBTQI+ refugees. (The only other African country to speak was Mauritania, which requested to take the floor after the speaker list had closed, and used the opportunity to highlight the efforts it has taken to tackle discrimination against SOGI minorities following its decriminalisation of same-sex activity in 2023).
The reality remains, however, is that most LGBTQI+ displaced people are not being resettled to Germany, Mexico, or South Africa – nor to the numerous other European and South American countries whose delegates spoke during the event. They are stuck – sometimes indefinitely – in countries that have the least resources, the highest legal and social risks, the fewest inclusive services; and, as I have learned in my time with the PRIDE Centre, humanitarian responses that have no ability to respond to their specific needs. When it came time for the NGOs to speak, this dichotomy was highlighted: while most of the state speakers came from Europe and South America, eight of the ten NGOs to speak were based in the Global South. Five of those speakers were trans or gender diverse individuals – highlighting the disproportionate and often dire risks faced by people discriminated against on the basis of their gender identity or expression in particular.
The real impact will come not just from better practices in resettlement systems in the countries who attended the meeting, but from serious investment and inclusion – for all letters in the LGBTQI+ alphabet – in refugee camps and frontline displacement contexts inside the countries who did not.
The dialogue was the first time the issue LGBTQI+ rights in displacement was raised at the Human Rights Council – a huge step forward, indicating that this issue is increasing in global visibility. And in the context of refugee resettlement, the right questions are being asked. But the event also highlighted what we at the PRIDE Centre are becoming increasingly cognisant of: that in the context of humanitarian displacement settings, the conversation has barely begun.
The Independent Expert, Graeme Reid, presenting his report.
The majority of displaced LGBTQI+ live in protracted displacement settings.
Our response to the full report of the Independent Expert will be the subject of another blog. If you have any thoughts or reflections on it, please get in touch at clarebrown@pridecentre.org.