Lesbian, gay, trans asylum seekers feel unsafe in Dutch shelters: aid organizations

Gay, lesbian, and trans asylum seekers are targets of discrimination, bullying, and even physical attacks in many asylum centers in the Netherlands, aid organizations LGBT Aslym Support and COC Midden-Nederland told the Telegraaf. They are “astonished” by how dire the situations sometimes are.

LGBT Asylum Support received over 750 reports of unsafe situations in asylum shelters because of someone’s sexual preferences since the beginning of 2023. Fifty of those reports involved death threats against LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers. Most complaints came from the registration center in Ter Apel and from asylum seekers from Syria, where homosexuality is against the law.

“Things often go wrong upon arrival. LGBT people end up in the culture they tried to flee, one where ‘being LGBT’ is not accepted at all by other asylum seekers,” Sandro Kortekaas, chairman of LGBT Asylum Support, told the newspaper. “They think they are finally safe here and have to rigorously adjust their expectations; that leads to isolation and fear.”

COC Midden-Nedederland, an organization that advocates for equality for the LGBTQIA+ community, also receives many reports from asylum seekers, including from shelters other than Ter Apel. “The situation is dire in several asylum centers where LGBT people do not dare or cannot be themselves. There are minor incidents of bullying and major incidents of violence, where residents are kicked or stabbed. In 2024, that still happens, and no, not all those examples end up with the COA or in the media. We try to be a second home and often hear more.”

LGBQIA+ people can be “in a vulnerable position in the shelter,” the COA - the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers - acknowledged. “They have to deal with discrimination, social isolation, and unsafe situations, among other things.” The organization has taken many steps to reduce the problems, from facilitating conversations between residents to transferring perpetrators or victims to other shelters. All residents are informed of Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution, which prohibits discrimination, and the COA has employees at “various locations” focused solely on assisting people from the LGBTQIA+ community.

COC and LGBT Asylum Support advocate for much stronger measures, like a separate asylum center for LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers. The VVD in Nieuwegein recently proposed such a center, but the plan was shelved after political resistance. The COA is also vehemently against it. “Structurally placing them separately and thus effectively isolating vulnerable groups sends the wrong signal. It does not fit in with the way we live together in the Netherlands.”