LGBTI Asylum Seekers and Refugees from a Legal and Political Perspective [electronic resource] : Persecution, Asylum and Integration /
Güler, Arzu.editor.
Shevtsova, Maryna.editor.
Venturi, Denise.editor.
This book addresses the ‘three moments’ in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers’ and refugees’ efforts to secure protection: The reasons for their flight, the Refugee Status Determination process, and their integration into the host community once they are recognized refugee status. The first part discusses one of the most under-researched areas within the literature devoted to asylum claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity, namely the reasons behind LGBTI persons’ flight. It investigates the motives that drive LGBTI persons to leave their countries of origin and seek sanctuary elsewhere, the actors of persecution, and the status quo of LGBTI rights. Accordingly, an intersectional approach is employed so as to offer a comprehensive picture of how a host of factors beyond sexual orientation/gender identity impact this crucial first stage of LGBTI asylum seekers’ journey. In turn, the second part explores the challenges that LGBTI asylum seekers face during the RSD process in countries of asylum. It first examines these countries’ interpretations and applications of the process in relation to the relevant UNHCR guidelines and questions the challenges including the dominance of Western conceptions and narratives of sexual identity in the asylum procedure, heterogeneous treatment concerning the definition of a particular social group, and the difficulties related to assessing one’s sexual orientation within the asylum procedure. It subsequently addresses the reasons for and potential solutions to these challenges. The last part of the book focuses on the integration of LGBTI refugees into the countries of asylum. It first seeks to identify and describe the protection gaps that LGBTI refugees are currently experiencing, before turning to the reasons and potential remedies for them.
Arzu Güler, Maryna Shevtsova and Denise Venturi, Introduction -- Part I. Before the flight: Drivers, reasons and actors of persecution: Katherine Fox, Implementing Hostility and Acceptance: LGBTQ Persecution, Rights, and Mobility in the Context of Western Moral Entrepreneurship -- Edward J. Alessi, Sarilee Kahn, Sangeeta Chatterji, and Dean Manning, A Qualitative Exploration of the Child Abuse Experiences of Sexual and Gender Minority Refugees and Asylees in the United States and Canada -- Laine P. Munir, Fleeing Gender: Reasons for Displacement in Pakistan’s Transgender Community -- Alex Odlum, To Stay or to Go? Decision-making of LGBTQI Syrians in mixed migration flows -- Ailsa Winton, “I’ve got to go somewhere”: Queer displacement in northern Central America and southern Mexico -- Part II. Refugee status determination process: States’ implementation, heterogenity, Western narratives and sexual orientation: Arzu Güler, Refugee status determination process for the LGBTI asylum seekers: (in)consistencies of states’ implementations with UNHCR’s authoritative guidance -- Patricia Brazil and Samantha Arnold, LGBTI asylum applications in Ireland: status determination and barriers to protection -- Maria Guadalupe Begazo, The Membership of a Particular Social Group Ground in LGBTI Asylum Cases Under EU Law and European Case-Law: Just Another Example of Social Group or an Independent Ground?- Andrea Mrazova, Legal requirements to prove asylum claims based on sexual orientation: a comparison between the CJEU and ECtHR case law -- Kateri Berasi, Gay and lesbian asylum seekers in the United States: The interplay of sexual orientation identity development, reverse-covering, and mental health -- Katherine Fobear, “Wherever We Would Go, We Would Be Together” - The Challenges for Queer Refugee Couples Claiming Joint Asylum in Canada -- María Paula Castañeda Romero and Sofía Cardona Huerta, Seeking protection as a transgender refugee woman: from Honduras and El Salvador to Mexico -- Part III. Granting refugee status: Reception, accommodation, and integration of (recognised) LGBTI refugees: Betsy L. Fisher, Refugee Resettlement: A Protection Tool for LGBTI Refugees -- Nicholas Hersh, Enhancing UNHCR Protection for LGBTI Asylum-Seekers and Refugees in Morocco: Reflection and Strategies -- Hester K.V. Moore, “The atmosphere is oppressive”: investigating the intersection of violence with the cisgender Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer women refugee community in Nairobi, Kenya -- Emma Bassetti, Integration challenges faced by transgender refugees in Italy -- Arzu Güler, Maryna Shevtsova and Denise Venturi, Conclusion.
This book addresses the ‘three moments’ in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers’ and refugees’ efforts to secure protection: The reasons for their flight, the Refugee Status Determination process, and their integration into the host community once they are recognized refugee status. The first part discusses one of the most under-researched areas within the literature devoted to asylum claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity, namely the reasons behind LGBTI persons’ flight. It investigates the motives that drive LGBTI persons to leave their countries of origin and seek sanctuary elsewhere, the actors of persecution, and the status quo of LGBTI rights. Accordingly, an intersectional approach is employed so as to offer a comprehensive picture of how a host of factors beyond sexual orientation/gender identity impact this crucial first stage of LGBTI asylum seekers’ journey. In turn, the second part explores the challenges that LGBTI asylum seekers face during the RSD process in countries of asylum. It first examines these countries’ interpretations and applications of the process in relation to the relevant UNHCR guidelines and questions the challenges including the dominance of Western conceptions and narratives of sexual identity in the asylum procedure, heterogeneous treatment concerning the definition of a particular social group, and the difficulties related to assessing one’s sexual orientation within the asylum procedure. It subsequently addresses the reasons for and potential solutions to these challenges. The last part of the book focuses on the integration of LGBTI refugees into the countries of asylum. It first seeks to identify and describe the protection gaps that LGBTI refugees are currently experiencing, before turning to the reasons and potential remedies for them.
Human rights.
Emigration and immigration.
International humanitarian law.
Sociology.
Sex and law.
Cross-cultural psychology.
Human Rights.
Migration.
International Humanitarian Law, Law of Armed Conflict.
Gender Studies.
Gender, Sexuality and Law.
Cross Cultural Psychology.