5 November 2026
The PRIDE Centre: Protection, Rights, Inclusion in Displacement & Emergencies is calling on humanitarian aid organisations, including UN agencies, NGOs, donors, and the Red Cross to ensure that protection and aid services reach the thousands of LGBTQIA+ people fleeing fighting in the Oromia and Somali regions of Ethiopia who are facing severe protection risks.
The PRIDE Centre estimates that at least 2,400 LGBTQIA+ people are among the 47,952 people who, according to the Kenya Red Cross (KRC), have crossed the border into Kenya as at 2 November.[1]
LGBTQIA+ refugees and displaced persons are among the most vulnerable people in situations that are already extremely volatile. Coping mechanisms centred on security, safety, mutual aid, and anonymity are shattered; Amid the chaos of displacement, the risk of exposure, which frequently leads to targeted violence, including sexual violence, rises sharply. The PRIDE Centre’s findings from community surveys show that 92% of forcibly displaced LGBTQIA+ people have experienced targeted sexual and gender-based violence in the countries where we work.
The PRIDE Centre is calling on response agencies to draw on the expertise of national, local and specialised LGBTQIA+ service providers, including LGBTQIA+ refugee-led organisations, to assist in reaching these communities. Referral mechanisms to appropriate service providers are essential to ensure that LGBTQIA+ persons are not discriminated against or left behind.
LGBTQIA+ persons in situations of forced displacement face specific humanitarian needs that few mainstream aid agencies are equipped to meet. UN agencies and INGOs rarely capture the protection risks to LGBTQIA+ communities, not only because these communities often minimise their visibility for their own safety, but also because aid agencies do not have the systems or expertise in place to identify and assist these specific vulnerabilities. Core humanitarian needs include, but are not limited to:
- Safe shelters, separate from collective shelters organised on a binary sex basis;
- Appropriate care and resources for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence;
- Sexual and reproductive health services and resources;
- Protection services, including legal assistance and civil registration;
- Health services that are free from discrimination; and
- Safe access to basic survival necessities, including water and food (LGBTQIA+ persons frequently face violence from community members when attending food distributions or attempting to access water points).
LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers also frequently report dehumanising treatment when attempting to register their status in Kenya.
On paper, Kenya recognises the right to asylum on the basis of SOGIESC. In reality, however, Kenya has unofficially frozen refugee registration for LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers since 2019. This means that those seeking asylum on this basis are denied the full suite of rights and protections afforded to other refugees. In addition, LGBTQIA+ refugees are directed to a specific area of Kakuma refugee camp designated for LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers, where they face violent attacks on an almost weekly basis and report frequent discrimination and dehumanising treatment, including from some government, UN agency and NGO staff. As a result, most flee the camp to seek relative safety and protection in urban and semi-urban areas. Several hundred have fled to South Sudan in the hope of obtaining refugee registration and increased protection and aid.
[1] The PRIDE Centre’s methodology for LGBTQIA+ populations estimates assumes that 5% of the overall population is LGBTQIA+, based on global SOGIESC prevalence surveys weighted towards the Global South and in deference to self-identification.