Plans for a common policy on migration for all European Union member states will harm LGBTIQ asylum seekers unless they are specifically catered to, activist Farah Abdi said on Wednesday.
She was speaking during the first day of the LGBTIQ+ Human Rights Conference currently being organised as part of Europride.
Abdi, who is a trans woman, first came to Malta 11 years agowhen she fled her native Somalia due to the persecution she faced because of her gender identity. However, she later fled Malta due to racial discrimination.
She was the keynote speaker during a panel about access to rights for LGBTIQ migrants and asylum seekers, where she said that, in its current form, the proposed common migration policy for the EU would fail queer asylum seekers, many of whom already likely fled their homes due to violence and discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“I strongly believe that an essential component of any refugee must be tailored protection measures for those who are most vulnerable,” she said.
“Loopholes and ambiguity will only lead to inconsistent and inadequate protection for asylum seekers and refugees.”
Abdi said that the proposed fast-tracked screening process will not be able to adequately factor in the unique situation of queer asylum seekers, many of whom would likely not come from a background where they are used to being open about their sexuality or gender identity.
The list of so-called "safe" countries of origin that is being proposed, Abdi said, is also troublesome, because it assumes that all of the countries on this list are safe for everyone in uniformity. However, countries like Egypt, Morocco and Algeria still have discriminatory laws and attitudes towards LGBTIQ people that put them at risk of violence, she said.
“Adopting a protectionist approach towards asylum will only compound the hardships faced by asylum seekers and the EU member states that will be adopting this common policy will be violating the human rights instruments that they are signatories to,” Abdi said.
If Malta wants to continue to top the list for LGBTIQ human rights, it should be leading the way on this matter.
'A country that criminilises homosexuality cannot be considered safe'
Aditus director Neil Falzon, who also spoke on the panel, said that the human rights NGO is currently lobbying the government to remove countries that criminalise LGBTIQ behaviour from its safe countries list.
“The host of your Eurorpide currently has laws that define countries that would put someone like Farah into prison as safe,” he said.
“While the rainbows are great, we cannot consider a safe country one that would criminalise all of us.”
While Malta does include discrimination due to gender identity and sexual orientation as legitimate reasons to grant a person asylum, asylum seekers still face significant hurdles in accessing it because Malta does not have humanitarian programs or visas, a situation further compounded by the government’s policy decision not to rescue boats out at sea.
People also have limited or almost zero access to information or legal aid, Falzon said, meaning that often that person seeking asylum almost never has the opportunity to come out to a trusted person like a lawyer who can help them navigate the system.
“What ends up happening is that they make up some story that isn’t credible that eventually gets their claim denied. Then if they’re lucky they’ll finally meet a lawyer to work on their appeal,” Falzon said.
“But more often than not, when we present these cases to the appeals board the answer we get is that the matter of sexuality or gender identity should have been brought up during the first interview.”
“The situation is getting worse, as detention increases, access to lawyers decreases and it has become almost impossible for people who are desperate to be safe to claim asylum.”